Private Finance: House prices blues have finally started to leak out from the capital

Shaun Church, Director at Private Finance, comments on the latest release of data on the House Price Index from the Office of National Statistics.

“The house price blues have finally started to leak out from the capital. While London’s property market has been languishing under a dark cloud of Brexit uncertainty for the past year, the rest of the UK seemed to be immune. However, with the latest figures showing a slight drop in house prices in the North East, it’s likely other region’s property markets will soon catch London’s cold.

“Though nothing is certain, a sudden pick-up in housing activity as soon as we officially exit the EU may be overly-optimistic. It’s likely to be a matter of months, if not years, before confidence is fully restored in the UK property market. For the millions of borrowers across the country that have been outpriced by the UK housing market, this uncertainty marks a time of significant opportunity. Easing house price growth, combined with near record low mortgage rates, means first-time buyers are in a good position to make their first step onto the property ladder.

“Borrowers ready to buy should shop around to secure the most competitive mortgage deal on the market. While further rate rises may look unlikely in the short term, locking into a long-term deal now can cushion against rate increases when they do eventually happen.”

Kindly shared by Private Finance