Table of Contents
The property market continues to heat up as buyers look to beat the April deadline when stamp duty will rise, according to the latest survey by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors.
The closely watched monthly survey offers a snapshot of what’s happening in the housing market across the country.
This month’s survey revealed that more Rics members, including estate agents and surveyors, have seen house prices rise in the past three months than those who reported falls.
Upwards: More Rics members report that house prices have risen in the last three months than those who say prices have fallen
More Rics members also report an increase in buyer inquiries than the number reporting fewer buyer inquiries.
Rics says this is the fourth consecutive month he has seen buyer demand grow.
More Rics members continue to report an increase in sales than those who see sales figures drop.
Tarrant Parsons, head of market analysis at Rics, said: ‘The UK property market saw a continued rebound in activity through October, with the recent improvement in buyer demand translating into growth in the number of sales. agreed.
“Just as importantly, forward-looking sentiment points to this brighter trend continuing in the coming months.”
Tina Paillet, president of Rics, added: ‘TThe pending expiry of the higher stamp duty threshold in spring 2025 may see homeowners and first-time buyers rush to take advantage of the current rate, but this will likely be followed by a weaker trend after the deadline has passed.
From April 1 next year, the price at which stamp duty is charged will return to £300,000 for first-time buyers, from its current level of £425,000. For those moving house, the threshold at which they start paying the tax is falling from £250,000 to £125,000.
This follows temporary changes implemented in 2022.
Looking ahead, more surveyors and agents expect prices to rise in the next three months than those who expect prices to fall.
More home search: agreed sales and inquiries from new buyers continue to increase
Northern Ireland and Scotland to lead house price rise
Virtually all parts of the UK are expected to see a rise in house prices in the coming year, led by strong growth in Northern Ireland and Scotland.
The optimistic market survey comes even though mortgage rates have been rising.
NatWest has this week become the sixth major lender to announce that fixed home loan prices are increasing.
The series of rate increases will seem counterintuitive given that the Bank of England cut interest rates from 5 percent to 4.75 percent last Thursday.
Lenders are raising prices as a result of higher inflation expectations following the Labor budget and Trump’s election victory.
“The rise in bond yields following the Budget, coupled with a general financial market rally, implied interest rate expectations over the past two weeks,” Parsons added.
“This will likely be a headwind for the market in the short term.”
Turnaround: After the negativity surrounding house prices in recent years, positivity has returned and more Rics members now expect prices to rise, rather than fall, in the future.
Still, house prices have hit a new high, according to Halifax data, surpassing the previous peak set in June 2022 during the pandemic housing boom.
The average home price rose for the fourth consecutive month in October, according to the bank, which bases its figures on its own mortgage applications.
The typical property rose 0.2 percent over the month, while year-on-year prices rose 3.9 percent.
It means the average property price has hit a record high of £293,999, surpassing the previous peak of £293,507.
The hottest and coldest real estate markets
Yorkshire and the Humber and the South West of England were the only regions that had more Rics members reporting that prices are falling, rather than rising.
Mark Hunter of Grice and Hunter in Doncaster, south Yorkshire, said: “There has been a lull in activity as expected due to the budget.” We expect to be in limbo until at least mid-January.’
Howard Davis, of Howard estate agency in Bristol, said: ‘We are seeing a lot of negotiation over asking prices. As a result, values are falling.”
However, the majority of respondents in the north of England, the north west, Scotland and Northern Ireland say prices are rising.
Clare Murphy, of Manchester-based Countrywide Surveying Services, said: ‘Home buying demand is high, new build sales remain strong.
Ian Fergusson, of Shepherd Chartered Surveyors in Scotland, said: ‘Strong market with good seller and buyer activity – prices rising.
In Northern Ireland, Rics members report that a shortage of homes on the market is contributing to rising prices.
Kirby O’Connor, of GOC estate agents in Belfast, said: ‘We have found that our new developments are selling well, there is increased demand and I believe this is due to interest rates.
‘This opened the market to more first-time buyers. Additionally, the investor market remains strong.
Samuel Dickey of Simon Brien Residential in Belfast added: “Lack of supply continues to be the trend so there are competitive offers on most properties.”
Some links in this article may be affiliate links. If you click on them, we may earn a small commission. That helps us fund This Is Money and keep it free to use. We do not write articles to promote products. We do not allow any commercial relationship to affect our editorial independence.