Rate cuts boost optimism for 2025
Average new seller asking prices drop by 1.4% (-£5,366) this month to £366,592. This is a bigger fall than the usual seasonal 0.8% drop seen at this time of year. This is likely due to pre- and post-Budget jitters. However, despite the dampening effect of the Budget, market activity remains stronger than last year as Bank Rate falls.
Rightmove’s 2025 forecast is that average new seller asking prices will rise by 4%. This is their highest prediction since 2021. This is because lower mortgage rates will release some of the pent-up housing demand and therefore putting modest upwards pressure on prices.
The market remains price-sensitive, and seller competition is at its highest level for a decade. Keen to sell? You will need to offer a well-presented and well-priced home.
This will attract buyers who are spoilt for choice and still affordability-stretched.
Bank Rate cuts are now forecast to be slower-paced. Therefore, affordability may take longer to improve than previously expected.
The average price of property coming to the market for sale drops by 1.4% this month (-£5,366) to £366,592. This is the second month in a row that new seller pricing has fallen more than the norm, with the usual drop seen at this time of year being 0.8%. Data supplied by Rightmove (https://www.rightmove.co.uk/)
Last month’s pre-Budget jitters have turned into post-Budget disappointment, creating new challenges for the housing market, and appear to have caused a larger-than-normal seasonal slowdown in pricing as we head towards Christmas.
However, despite the dampener of the Budget, the big picture of market activity remains strong when compared with last year. Since the Budget we have also had a second Bank Rate cut, with Rightmove’s real-time data identifying early signs of a subsequent boost in buyer activity.
What do Jukes Estate Agents Harlow think?
Co owner Geoff Flewers says: “There’s been a lot of news to digest for home-movers over the last few weeks and it appears that the market may still be chewing it over.“
“We had been seeing a drop-off in buyer demand. This has been both in the lead-up to the Budget and in its immediate aftermath.
However, a second Bank Rate cut and a boost of optimism regarding 2025 appear to have reversed this trend at least temporarily. Zooming out of these short-term trends, the big picture of market activity remains positive when compared to the quieter market at this time last year. This sets us up for what we predict will be a stronger 2025 in both prices and number of homes sold, particularly if mortgage rates fall by enough to significantly improve affordability for more of the mass-market.”
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