January’s strong start to the year shows no sign of abating and with Spring just three weeks away Zoopla is predicting tens of thousands more home sales in 2024 compared to last year.
Latest data from the Zoopla House Price Index suggests a 10% upswing in total home sales (1.1 million) in 2024 compared to one million in 2023 with the number of homes for sale a fifth (21%) higher than a year ago.
And in a further sign of confidence buyer demand is also up 11% while sales agreed are 15% higher than this time last year with the North East (+17%) and London (+16%) leading the rebound.
HOUSE PRICE INFLATION
The UK rate of house price inflation has slowed to -0.5%, up from a low of -1.4% in October 2023 with slowing house price falls recorded across all regions of the UK.
Five English regions are still registering annual price falls of up to -2.1%, with house price growth now in positive territory across the remaining four regions of England, as well as Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland where annual price inflation is 4.3%.
MORE SALES, MORE SELLERS
Richard Donnell, ZooplaRichard Donnell, Executive Director at Zoopla, says: “More sales and more sellers shows growing confidence amongst households and evidence that 4-5% mortgage rates are not a barrier to improving market conditions.
“The momentum in new sales being agreed has been building for the last five months and the sales market is on track for 1.1m sales over 2024 supported by new sellers coming to the market. While sales are set to increase we don’t expect house price growth to accelerate further in 2024.”
Nathan Emerson, Chief Executive at Propertymark, says: “These figures should encourage people who were hesitant about selling their home to consider their move.
“Though interest rates have not started to fall yet, the Bank of England’s last Monetary Policy Committee meeting should give people confidence as they now know that their borrowing costs are unlikely to increase.
Nathan Emerson, PropertymarkINTEREST RATES
“If inflation falls as expected, we hope that the Bank of England will consider cutting interest rates which will help ease the financial strain placed on the nation.”
And Nigel Bishop of buying agency Recoco Property Search, adds: “We have seen first-hand that buyer confidence has returned to some degree, particularly compared to this time last year.
“This uplift in market activity is largely driven by the availability of more affordable mortgage products. Equally, sellers have become more motivated to put their property up for sale which is resulting in buyers having a larger pool of properties to choose from.”
