Our Rightmove property expert predicts that house prices in the northern half of the UK will continue to rise.
- National average asking price of property coming to market forecast to remain flat at 0% in 2019
- Prediction is based on the current sound fundamentals of the housing market continuing, but an increase in political or economic uncertainty would have a detrimental effect.
- Parts of the more buoyant northern half of the UK set to rise by 2% to 4%, though this will be off-set by new sellers adjusting their prices downwards in parts of the south:
- London commuter-belt regions predicted to fall by around 2%
- Greater London predicted to slow its current annual rate of decrease from -2.4% to an average fall of -1%.
Miles Shipside, Rightmove director and housing market analyst, said: “While buyer affordability is stretched in some parts of the UK due to house price rises having outstripped wage rises, the underlying fundamentals supporting the housing market are currently sound. Positive employment data and affordable mortgage interest rates at high loan-to-value ratios are key to keeping property prices broadly in line with current levels”.
Buyer sentiment has been helped by recent interest rate rises not being fully passed on, which may continue to be the case with any future base rate rises, as long as healthy competition remains among lenders keen for new business. The Mortgage Market Review established in 2013 has also been a limiting factor on excessive property price increases by prudently restricting buyers’ borrowing power.