While property prices are set to fall across much of the UK in early 2024, the North East should be a notable exception.
That is according to homemoving quote service reallymoving.
North East prices are set to increase by 6.7% in the first quarter of 2024, bringing the average to £178,287.
Contrastingly across the UK as a whole the cost of property should fall by -3.6% in the first quarter.
This will include an estimated quarterly fall of -7.2% in Yorkshire & the Humber, -7.0% in the South East, and -5.6% in Northern Ireland.
Rob Houghton, founder and CEO of reallymoving, said: “Based on sales agreed at the end of last year we can expect to see more downward movement in house prices at the start of 2024, but probably not for long.
“There’s a good deal of pent-up demand from movers who held off last year and we’re already seeing much higher demand for conveyancing quote services.
“It’s been painful, but many buyers have now adjusted to higher borrowing costs and if mortgage rates continue to fall steadily, as the traditional spring buying window opens up I expect we’ll see significantly more buyers making the decision to enter the market.”
Reallymoving said stubbornly high inflation and general economic doom and gloom has continued to put the brakes on housing market activity, though there are signs that sentiment is now beginning to improve as mortgage rates ease, boosting affordability.
New registrations for home move services on reallymoving, including conveyancing, surveying and removals, were 73% higher in the first week of January 2024 than the same period last year.
However, activity at the start of 2023 was heavily hampered by the disastrous ‘mini-Budget’ which had taken place just a few weeks previously.
Houghton added: “First-time-buyer volumes are up notably in January, now accounting for 61% of all home movers. Many more will be weighing up their options, trying to time their move perfectly to benefit from falling mortgage rates and lower house prices.
“The market can start to heat up again quite quickly, so I’d advise buyers hoping to move this spring to plan ahead now by speaking with a mortgage broker and applying for an agreement in principle, whilst keeping a watchful eye on the market for further rate falls.”
