0121 550 4151The big question on everyone's lips these days is Brexit.....or is it ? Everyone I speak to recently has pretty much had enough of it! It appears to have become more of a personal positioning tool for politicians, especially one’s no one has ever heard of who suddenly appear grandstanding in front of a TV camera. They don’t appear to actual care about the public...or indeed Brexit at all....this is just the writers opinion...feel free to disagree.
Anyway, despite all this Brexit shenanigans, house prices ended the year up 1.3% according to Halifax figures. The lender’s House Price Index for December showed the market grew within the 0-3% that it forecast at the start of 2018.
2019, however, will clearly be dependent on the Brexit outcome. There are a number of other factors that will impact the market in 2019, the need to raise a significant deposit still acts as a restraint for those looking to buy a new home and mortgage payment affordability is more difficult to predict. There are signs of positive annual pay growth supporting affordability and mortgages are still, on the whole, nicely affordable with some excellent deals available for the right candidates.
The shortage of homes for sale is still the number one driver in the market. The supply of both new and resale houses is at a huge low point and in turn supports high asking prices for those wanting to sell. It appears, certainly for the time being, that the property buying public across the country has come out of Christmas and with three months to go before Brexit, is refusing to blink. It seems like maybe Britons think this storm can be weathered and even in the face of a possible no-deal Brexit, we are betting on the UK making a success of it rather than fearing it......stiff upper lip and all that.
2019 is going to be an interesting year