Many young people across the country are looking to move out of their home and into a place they can call home. Whether that is a two story flat overlooking the Thames, or a simple cottage out of town, finding a first home is a memorable experience. Finding a first spot on the property ladder used to be a goal for young people and those simply wanting to find a way out from under the bank of mum and dad. Now, those efforts are finding great resistance due to struggling wage growth, low numbers of available property, and cost increase in everyday items.

House prices in the UK slipped and fell slightly during the month of December as uncertainty remains a constant entering the New Year. This is the first fall in house prices across the country for six months, according to Halifax. A decrease of house prices by 0.6% now has the average house price sitting at £225,021. House prices are typically a primary sign of strength of the market and currently conditions are not at a prime state to reflect that. Many experts are predicting a minor fall in house prices this year as well.

This year alone, more than half a million mortgages are set to mature. This leaves home owners in an enviable position and could lead to many saving hundreds, and possibly thousands, off the cost of the monthly mortgage payment amount. If home owners choose to stay with their current deal, they could actually see a rise in cost of the payment due to a higher interest rate. Their deal will automatically be transitioned to their lender’s variable rate mortgage.

Borrowers will likely be pleased after seeing what high profile lenders as well as others are offering as mortgage lending deals in the New Year. Due to a housing market which is being described as sluggish by many, it is estimated interest rates will continue to be held at a very low level by lenders of all types. Borrowers looking to remortgage might especially be moved to obtain a new deal, whether it is with their current lender or a new lender.

Recently released data regarding remortgage approvals has once again confirmed the mortgage lending tool is strong and is able to provide immediate impact to a family budget. The data from November illustrates this point extremely well as approvals for remortgage hit a plateau which has not been achieved since the year 2008. Overall, remortgage led all other mortgage loan types by percentage many of the months of 2017. This year is expected to possibly be just as strong.

Through a year of extremely low interest rates, continued shortage of housing available for purchase, and struggling wage growth, housing experts are concluding several different opinions about the market. One consistent opinion which keeps emerging is that housing prices fell due to many reasons, but overall the market is strong. London housing prices fell during 2017 for the first time in eight years, but overall the UK saw an increase in house prices by 2.6% according to Nationwide.