If you Google ‘house price crash 2023 UK’ then approximately 96 million results pop up – the half-empty glass doomsters have been extremely busy! ‘Will there be a house price crash’, ‘Experts predict housing market will cool in 2023’ and ‘Is a UK house price crash on the horizon’ are some of the many headlines, but the list goes on and on as these doomsters make their predictions, which so far in 2023 are proving to be way off the mark as the key portals release the first raft of data.
There was a similar scenario in early 2020 when the same people were predicting a property meltdown due to the pandemic and its resulting lockdowns and previously in 2018 when the threat of a ‘no Brexit deal’ followed by an election etc fueled the fires of these doom-mongers.
Now, on the back of the disastrous Liz Truss mini-budget in September which resulted in a dramatic increase in interest rates and hike in mortgage rates, the electricity and energy price rise increase as a result in the war in Ukraine – the doomsters are still predicting a property Armageddon.
How wrong they are – having just received the house price index from Rightmove, along with similar data from On the Market, this is actual data rather than predictions – the housing market is far from crashing with the following observations
- 73% of active buyers in the UK were confident that they would purchase a property in the next 3 months *
- 64% of sellers in the UK were confident that they would sell their property within the next 3 months*
- 60% of properties were sold Subject to contract (STC) within 30 days of first being listed*
- The number of prospective buyers contacting agents is up 4% compared to the same period in 2019**
- Would be sellers jumped into action on January 5th, with this date being the third busiest day ever for people asking agents to come out and value their home**
- After 3 months of falls, the average new seller asking prices rise again by 0.9%, the biggest increase seen at this time of year since 2020**
With similar alarming headlines about the rise in mortgage rates at the end of last year, fixed-rate mortgage pricing continues to edge downwards, with several lenders reducing rates which may further help restore positivity in the market-place.
So… whilst the ‘glass half empty’ doomsters continue to spread their negativity, the Estate Agents are busy arranging market appraisals and selling homes.
David Phillip commented “we have started January 2023 in a very positive way, with a number of new instructions about to be launched in Bramhope and the surrounding areas – the key to selling quickly is to ensure properties are priced correctly by taking advice from an experienced local Estate Agent who knows the area inside and out – we have already listed and sold a property on Hall Drive in in seven days which shows there are plenty of buyers looking to move”
So if 2023 is the year in which you decide to sell your home call David Phillip FRICS for a free market appraisal on 01134 676 400
Covering Leeds, Bramhope, Adel, Cookridge, Pool-in-Wharfedale and Otley-http://www.davidphillip.co.uk
*On the Market property sentiment index January 2023 (reporting on December 2022 data)
** Rightmove Houseprice index January 2023