0:01 AM, 23rd December 2024, About A year ago
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The property market saw sales reaching record highs in 2024, with house prices expected to rise in 2025.
According to Zoopla’s House Price Index, buyers and sellers returned to the market throughout 2024, building a sales pipeline 30% larger than the previous year.
More sales helped house prices return to growth with a 1.9% rise in November compared to -1.2% a year ago.
According to Zoopla, more homes for sale boosted choice and sales have grown year on year with the last four weeks seeing sales agreed 23% up on last year as buyers try to agree deals ahead of the stamp duty changes from April 2025.
A total of 283,000 homes worth £104bn are set to progress to sale in 2025, the highest level in four years.
The average UK house price stands at £267,500. House price growth ranges from 0.7% in the South East to 6.8 per cent in Northern Ireland and 3.5 per cent in the North West region.
Richard Donnell, executive director at Zoopla, says buyers have become more price-sensitive in recent weeks in the wake of the Budget and growing uncertainty over the outlook for mortgage rates which have drifted higher.
Zoopla says buyers are now agreeing sales at 3.6% below the asking price. Over the summer of 2024, buyers were more confident as mortgage rates fell, agreeing purchase prices that were, on average, 3.2% below the asking price.
He said: “Buyers and sellers returned to the housing market in 2024 having delayed moves in the face of higher mortgage rates. There is a sizable pipeline of sales that will complete in the first half of 2025 with many hoping to avoid higher stamp duty costs from next April.
“More sales have supported a return to house price growth across the country but home buyers have become more price-sensitive in recent weeks as mortgage rates drift higher. Affordability constraints will keep the pace of house price growth in check over 2025 but there will be enough price inflation to support 5% more home moves.”
Zoopla expects UK house prices to rise by 2.5% in 2025, with a continued north-south divide leading to lower growth in southern England and higher growth in other regions.
The house price increase is driven by the relative affordability of housing across the country and the extent to which house prices have risen compared to household incomes.
Since 2010, house prices in London have risen by 83%, followed by 70% in southern England, 66% in the Midlands, and 56% in Wales.
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