The momentum in sales market activity over 2024 has spilt over into 2025, with property
coming to market increasing by 1.7% (+5,992) this month to £366,189. This is the largest jump in
prices at the start of the year since 2020. Zoopla expects that the average UK house price is
set to rise by 2.5% by the end of the year. With this in mind, David Phillip completes his Property Market Review, January 2025.
A record numbers of new sellers
According to Rightmove, a record number of new sellers have come onto the market since Boxing Day. This is giving buyers the highest level of choice at the start of the year since 2015. This
has also contributed to an encouraging start to 2025 buyer activity.
Zoopla show sales agreed are up 12%, as some buyers attempt to beat the reduced stamp duty deadline at the end of March. The number of new properties coming to the market is 11% ahead of the
same-start-of-the period last year and the number of sales agreed over the same period is
also up by 11%. Rightmove has recorded its busiest start to a year for Mortgage in Principle
applications, which is evidence of buyer intent.
Interest rate drop
Although the start of the year has been very promising there are a couple of uncertainties
ahead. These include the pace and number of interest rates drops ahead, (potentially reducing
mortgage rates!). Rightmove’s weekly mortgage tracker shows that the average five-year
fixed mortgage rate is now at 4.75% compared with 4.78% last year. The market needs a
boost for this momentum to be sustained. This will come in the form of early and ongoing bank rate cuts.
The markets are still banking on a cut this month.
The impact of the stamp duty deadline on March 31st is yet to be seen.
It is now too late for buyers to agree and complete on a property purchase before the end of March in 2025, in order to pay lower stamp duty. Annual earnings growth remains over 5% , a factor playing a key role in re-setting housing affordability. Over a fifth of renters want to buy a home, having seen the cost of rent rising rapidly over the last two years.
The best start to the year
The first few weeks of each year tend to indicate how the rest of the year will
unfold. 2025 has started better than both 2023 and 2024. This bodes well for market activity
over the rest of the year. This is also supported by evidence of more people looking to move.
A healthy stock of homes for sale will keep price rises in check. Zoopla are forecasting
that average UK house prices will rise by 2.5% in 2025, with 5% more sales taking place
than last year. Rising incomes and base rate cuts are set to continue improving housing
affordability over 2025.
Leeds – second only to Newcastle in terms of price rises
In terms of price rises for a Property Market Review (Zoopla’s analysis is based on a range of indicators including affordability of homes, how quickly property is selling, how much asking prices are being cut
to attract demand and how many homes have been on the market for more than six months
– these factors have been collated and ranked across 120 postal areas of the UK to create
an overall ranking of the areas with the best prospects for 2025) based on the above
intelligence, Leeds is second only to Newcastle as the English location with the best chance
of house price growth in 2025 which is very encouraging particularly for North Leeds (LS16).
David Phillip commented “Thank you for reading my Property Market Review, we have seen a busy start to 2025, over half our properties sold have achieved asking price or above”.
If you are considering selling your home in 2025 and would like a free market appraisal,
contact David Phillip FRICS on 0113 4676400.
Website
David Phillip Estate Agents selling homes in North Leeds and Wharfedale and covering
Bramhope, Cookridge, Adel, Pool-in-Wharfedale and Alwoodley.
