As autumn leaves start to fall and there is a notable chill in the air, many estate agents and conveyancing solicitors might be hoping for the usual autumn bounce of the property market, so far this has yet to materialize.
RICS Survey
A survey conducted by the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) shows that the majority of estate agents reported a fall in enquiries. There was one area of England however that bucked the trend and that was right here in the northwest of England where there was a moderate improvement in September’s figures when compared to August’s.
Tarrant Parsons, senior economist at the RICS, said: “With mortgage affordability still incredibly stretched, it is unsurprising that buyer activity across the housing market remained subdued in September.”
In the same survey most estate agents reported a bleak outlook for autumn enquiries with most expecting sales to keep falling
Parsons added: “Although the decision to pause monetary policy tightening a few weeks ago provided a glimmer of relief for the market, interest rates are likely now set to remain on hold for a prolonged period. As such, it appears there is little prospect of trends deviating much from the recent picture in the immediate future.”
How the property market lost its boom
The post-pandemic world saw a boom in property sales during a time of cheap mortgages and a stamp duty holiday. However with the Bank of England trying to curb inflation, interest rates have risen and pushed up the cost of buying a house.
With a slow market, prices are falling. Yet despite this trend there is still a huge gap between what buyers expect to pay and what sellers hope to achieve.
While property prices are falling, rents are rising so those who choose to remain in rented accommodation to see how the market prevails over the next few months may well find their rent increases faster than a fixed mortgage would.
Forecast for 2024
While some commentators are confident the market will bounce back by this time next year, with conflict across the world, and a continuing cost of living crisis at home, it is difficult to see where any change will come but then the property market will often surprise even the most experienced of property professionals and buck any trend purely because people will always need somewhere to live