Housepresso 9 January 22
House prices: will a big squeeze follow the record rise?
House prices reached a record high in December 2021 - their 8th new record in the space of a year, but will the record rise continue or will rising inflation, mortgage rates and energy costs lead to a big house price squeeze this year?
Whilst house prices rise, mortgage rates fall
The latest data from the Bank of England this week revealed that mortgage rates fell again in November, with Bank Rate and therefore mortgage rates on the rise this year now could be a good time to fix
Mortgage approvals were neither up nor down...
It is surprising is how quickly mortgage approvals have returned to their longer-term trend levels following the end of the Stamp Duty Holiday in September 2021.
It appears that absent the stamp duty holiday activity in the UK housing market has quickly returned to normal. Perhaps, when it comes to moving home, macroeconomic events do not impact household decisions as much as we may believe.