The general election to be held next month is being blamed for the lack of new properties coming onto the housing market. According to the online property lister, Rightmove, the volume of properties for sale has dropped by 15% in November, which is the fastest decline since August 2009. The average asking price fell by £3,900, and is now at £302,808.

The housing market has kept resilient during the past few years despite the uncertainty of Brexit expecting to cause an overwhelming sense of caution that would keep home buyers away. Now that the year is close to ending, it appears that the demographic that kept the market busy was that of the first time buyers. The ability to borrow cheaply and discover a property at a lower asking price than what it would have been only months ago were too much of an opportunity to ignore.

In September, as the then Brexit deadline of 31 October drew closer, homeowners showed strong demand for remortgages. This was the month prior to the large influx of remortgaging homeowners that were expected due to a high of two year mortgage deals ending in October 2019. Borrowers took advantage of the competitive market in lending that existed in September to secure fixed rate remortgages and gain peace of mind from the Brexit uncertainty.

The past year has been filled with a constant stream of information warning of falling house prices and a housing market unable to weather the Brexit storm. The housing market proved to be resilient however as home buyers stayed focused on opportunities that would help boost them onto the property ladder. Lower asking prices from home sellers and lower interest rates from lenders were too good to pass over and interest in the housing market remained to keep it not only steady but at times surprising the naysayers.

In another report on the state of the housing market, it has been forecasted that the market will perform at 4.1% higher than last year. It is very good news considering that the shadow of Brexit uncertainty impacted the actions of home buyers all year. While caution was the course suggested by most experts for home buyers, they showed up despite the warning and took advantage of lower asking prices and low interest mortgage deals.

Homeowners have been busy seeking remortgages. There are many reasons for the high demand that has been consistent over the last few months. One, of course, is to save money. A very large number of homeowners had their mortgage deal end last month. Those homeowners could remortgage or they could allow their lender to move them to the lender’s standard variable rate (SVR). Since SVRs of some lenders are double or more the mortgage rate those homeowners were used to paying, a remortgage could offer substantial savings.