House prices are all set to rise in 2024
Bill Spreckley
Activity in the property market slowed down dramatically in the last quarter of 2023 with buyers and sellers preferring to sit on the fence and wait for the economic situation to calm down a bit, before committing. Now that mortgage rates have begun to come down and the economic forecasts have been improving, buyers have gained more confidence during the first few months of 2024 and the Spring/Summer housing market will be busy.
We believe 2024 will see the bottom of the dip in house prices and historically recoveries are usually speedy. In the meantime there should be some chances to purchase property at lower prices than have been possible since pre-Covid times. It is a good time to buy!
In Q1 of 2024, prices in the area were about 10%-15% off the highs seen last Spring, or at least they should be, some vendors are not very accepting of this at the moment. We recently purchased a house for a client in Hampshire, and negotiated a price 18.5% below the initial asking price quoted last Summer.
Through 2024 we are likely to witness further reverberations due to the conflicts in the Middle East and Ukraine, and then of course the forthcoming UK general election. However, interest rates are heading lower, there is more confidence in the UK economy and absolutely most importantly of all, as history has shown many times over the last fifty years, any dip in UK house prices represents a good buying opportunity. Everyone needs a roof over their heads and this (along with children’s education) is the priority investment in most people’s lives.
The difficulty for buyers is understanding what the price of a house should be, as opposed to what it is being marketed at. Of course some houses are priced correctly and therefore (quite rightly) it will be difficult to get a discount on the asking price, whilst others are overpriced, often dramatically, and have not taken into account the recent drop in prices. An experienced local Search Agent will be able to professionally advise you and give you a clear idea of what the price should be.
Stacks is the longest established property buying agency in the UK and we also have more local offices (fifteen) across the country than any of our competitors. Our Hampshire/West Sussex/Surrey office has been finding, securing and purchasing houses for our clients for the last forty years; we only work for buyers and either negotiate with the seller’s estate agent, or we deal directly with the vendors if they are not on the open market. We understand and advise our clients what a house is really worth and then make sure it gets to completion as smoothly as possible.
