Mortgage rates begin to ease, speeding up market productivity. According to a number of industry professionals, activity and productivity in the housing market is speeding up, with house prices rising last month by 0.5% (making that the second consecutive increase) and the cost of home loans easing.
Halifax, the UK’s largest mortgage lender, have found that property prices are 1% lower than they were a year ago, further stating that prices had held up better than expected. Ms Kinnaird, direcor at Halifax Mortgages, has said: “Other pressures – like inflation, the broader cost of living, overall employment rates and affordability – mean we expect to see downward pressure on house prices into next year.”
Due to mortgage interest rates starting to come down, more and more prospective buyers are achieving the mortgage approvals they’re looking for, the amount of approvals picking up to 47,400 in October in contrast to the previous eight months standing at 43,300.
Expectations that the Bank of England’s base interest rate has peaked (which is currently sitting at 5.25%) has resulted in the decrease in said mortgage rates of late, helping many more buyers move ahead up the property ladder. Moneyfacts’ latest findings show the average two-year fixed residential mortgage rate is currently 6.01%, down from July’s 6.86%. It is speculated that, providing inflation continues to fall, there is plenty of room for optimism that average mortgage rates could once again fall below 5% next year.
According to findings by the Knight Frank Intelligence Lab, the UK property market outlook is decidedly positive going forward, supported by falling mortgage rates, lower inflation and higher rents. More and more landlords are prepared to take a chance in the market, and as such there is a higher likelihood that we will see a seasonal spring bounce in the early months of next year.