The Bank of England has taken into consideration the extension of Brexit and the impact it will have on the housing market. It has released a change in the forecast of the average house price for 2019 to decline by 1.25%. The change is different from the previous forecast of growth by at least 0.25% for the year made in February.
The uncertainty with Brexit could be soon coming to a conclusion. What is expected next from the housing market in many opinions is positive for some sectors, especially remortgage. The key to this enthusiasm lies in what took place two years ago for those who purchased a residence and obtained a mortgage loan for that property. The base rate at that time was 0.25% and had not seen an increase for many years. What property buyers found as they applied for loans was attractive two year fixed deals with low interest rates.
The previous two years have been quite uncertain within the UK housing market due to Brexit and the historic vote to leave the EU. It has created some doubt in decision making and property owners are still on the fence regarding some major steps moving forward. Recent economic figures demonstrate the hesitation is continuing. Data from the month of March indicates housing mortgage approvals fell 3,000 from the month prior.
The strong selling season of summer is quickly approaching and many property owners are sitting on the fence once again regarding the decision to sell and move home or consider remortgage and stay. Brexit along with some fundamental changes within the market have created a climate of concern and even stress. The summer selling season will likely not be filled with activity as has been the case in years’ past, according to some housing experts, but remortgage is expected to remain strong, even until the end of the year.
Owning a home in the UK is not an inexpensive endeavor. There are the obvious monthly expenses which come every thirty days and then there are the not so obvious. The not obvious expenses to owning property include things like property taxes, maintenance, and natural fixes which happen completely out of the blue. Owners are often looking at ways in which to save money and reduce the number of outgoings each month, which is a challenge. Housing experts suggest the current conditions support the idea of looking at a strong possibility to saving money which is remortgage.
Depending on which viewpoint an expert is using to view the UK housing market either the market is lacking the growth of the past few years and is weakened, or it is surprisingly showing growth under the shadow of Brexit’s uncertainty. For hopeful home buyers, the market is perhaps close to perfect to take advantage of the more attractive house prices, enthusiastic sellers, and low interest rates offered by lenders. According to Nationwide’s latest report UK house prices grew by less than 1% in April.