Many UK housing market experts see this year as one which will end with little growth in house prices. The forecast is scattered with periods of challenging times this year and no real progression forward. Factors leading to these types of opinions include Brexit negotiations, taxes, and slowly rising wages. There are however areas of the housing market which are refusing to be challenged or slow down. Those areas are the rental sector and remortgage.

Household income in relation to house price growth is an issue every UK house owner gives attention to for financial sense of well-being. For years, house price growth has been on a robust pace. House prices have been increasing whilst wage growth has stayed behind in the distance. Home owners are actually benefitting more from selling their home than working. The latest research from Halifax once again has identified the same trend.

House prices in the UK had a slow start to the year 2017. So far, the year 2018 is proving to contain a much stronger start than last year. For houses across the country, experts are much aligned with their forecast of growth over the entire twelve months this year of only around 2%. Brexit negotiations continue, wage growth has increased only slightly, and inflation remains an issue for the entire country, although it has slowed a bit. These factors combine to form a housing market which is challenged to find growth around any corner.

The possibility of rates getting a hike in the month of May is growing. The standard base rate currently sits at 0.5% which is an historically low level. Bank of England has been hinting at the increase for months and many housing specialists see next month as potentially when the Monetary Policy Committee will vote one in. An uptick in the amount of remortgage activity has been evident for months, dating back to the middle of 2015. House owners are now preparing for another possible increase by securing fixed rate remortgages and setting themselves up for years of insurance from further increases.

Five years ago the UK government implemented the Help to Buy scheme which was created to help young buyers onto the property ladder or help them reach another rung. This programme is now nearing maturity and those house owners are in line to remortgage. The group of new home owners is also set to start paying interest on the loans. This will automatically increase the amount of their monthly payments to new heights.

The latest data to emerge regarding house prices is encouraging for a month within the first quarter of any year, according to many close to the housing market. The average house price now sits above record level at £227,871. Growth in house prices has continued, albeit slowly since the beginning of last year when uncertainty seemed as though it had peaked. Now, in the opinion of some housing experts, the market appears ready to slow again and is heading for tepid waters at best. This could be the ultimate time to seek out the benefits of a fixed rate remortgage.