UK House Buying Market Trends 2023

Hoping to sell your home in 2023? In the market for a new one? Wondering “Are house prices dropping?” The reality is that things look fairly bleak in terms of house prices in 2023, and understanding exactly what the market trends may be is key to ensuring that your home selling or home-buying experience isn’t a problematic one.

A Look at 2022

Understanding how the housing market has changed over the course of the last year may help you clearly see where it’s going. House prices started on a fairly high note in 2022, as rapid growth hit early in the pandemic with more people than ever assessing their living situation and looking for something new. Additionally, stamp duty tax cuts and lower-than-average interest rates made many believe it was a good time to buy a home. Toward the middle of the year, though, things began to change, and a UK house price crash started to happen. In the final quarter of 2022, a 50% drop in buyer demand hit the market furthering the UK house prices crash, and house price growth slowed considerably. In fact, UK house prices fell for four straight months.

Are Housing Prices Going Down Now?

With such a pessimistic second half of 2023, it’s hard to think positively for the upcoming year or even to make positive house price predictions for the next five years. Lloyds and Halifax have both predicted quite a bit of negativity in the nationwide house price index, suggesting that house prices could fall as much as 8% in the upcoming year. Zoopla had a similarly negative prediction on the value of housing, suggesting that housing prices would go down by as much as 5% in the upcoming year. Even the Office for Budget Responsibility has gotten in on the idea that things will fall, suggesting that buyers and sellers alike will see a 9% fall in property prices UK lenders will approve over the next 24 months.

Many, though, don’t feel quite as negative as to predict an all-out house market crash. Some experts on house price predictions have suggested that anyone who wants to predict the change in housing prices in 2023 should not look to the second half of 2022 for any ideas about where things are going. Instead, they urge some caution, suggesting that UK house price predictions for the next 5 years won’t be that bad. Instead, they will likely fall only back to 2021 levels as the financial conditions begin to settle. It’s important to note that the mortgage market often takes quite a bit longer to normalise than the other markets do, so as things begin to seem more normal across the UK, it may still take a few months for that to hit the mortgage market. That’s more true with things like London property prices than across the market as a whole.

What to Do If You’re Ready to Sell After the House Price Crash UK Sellers Experienced

If now is the time to sell your house for whatever reason, you’re not stuck just because the housing market isn’t quite what you hoped it would be. While you can’t control market factors, there are other things you can do to increase the value of your home. Here are a few you may want to consider:

• Ensure your kitchen and bathrooms stay current. Only a few rooms sell a home, and the kitchen and bathroom are two of those. If they’re outdated or you haven’t done a good job maintaining them, you may have trouble moving your home. Take the steps necessary to ensure these rooms are as clean and updated as possible before you decide to list your home.
• Think about kerb appeal. The outside of your home can truly sell it, so make sure it looks absolutely amazing. Trim the front garden, clean the path that leads to your home, and touch up any paint issues you notice.
• Address small problems. If you have issues like loose floor tiles or scuffs in the woodwork, address those as soon as possible. If a home looks well maintained, it has a much better chance of selling.

If now is the time for you to sell your home, don’t worry about the market. Instead, do what you can to find a buyer who loves your property and is ready to help you move on to the next stage of your life.