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The housing market is past its ‘peak pain’, but will remain price sensitive, says Max Turner of Savills (Image: Getty Images)
Max Turner, head of new homes at Savills in Suffolk, discusses the firm’s housing market predictions for next year and beyond.
It’s been somewhat of a rollercoaster 12 months for the UK’s housing market, with rising interest rates and the increase in the cost of living making for a turbulent time.
Values appear to have held up slightly better than expected in 2023 as mortgage markets settled over spring and autumn. According to Savills research, annual falls will stand at 4% by the end of the year, which will leave values down a total of 7% since the autumn of 2022.
Cash buyers have remained the most resilient, with activity 3.5% higher than the 2017-19 average. However, less activity among mortgaged buyers – most notably buy-to-let investors – means overall transactions are expected to be 20% down on 2022.
East Anglian Daily Times: Max Turner, who leads the new homes team at Savills Suffolk
Max Turner, who leads the new homes team at Savills Suffolk (Image: RMG Photography)
Savills is predicting the average UK house price to drop by only 3% in 2024 as affordability pressures slowly ease, with the expectation that the base rate will stand at 4.75% by the end of the year. Here in the East of England, prices are predicted to fall by 3.5% over the next 12 months – but less debt dependent markets may perform better.
With the Bank of England expected to start cutting interest rates in the second half of 2024, this should give more capacity for price growth from the end of next year. Savills has forecast that house prices will grow by an average 17.9% across the UK over the five years to