Aside from all the political news of last year and then the official Brexit outline for the coming months, one part of the UK housing market is still quite volatile. Housing prices have been ablaze during the last few years regarding growth and now for the first time in several months that fire has begun to sputter. Prices in the month of January actually did more than sputter – they fell. This is the first housing price decrease for the month since last August, according to Halifax.

Talk on the street about the possibility of a possible hike in interest rates is getting louder. Many experts close to the UK housing market are urging those on the fence to take a step forward and apply for a remortgage before it is too late. As many are staring at challenges to home ownership, current home owners are sitting in a favourable spot. There have been fewer times better to remortgage than right now.

A former Bank of England Monetary Policy Committee member recently made bold statements regarding the future of the UK housing market. During an event in Westminster over the past week, Professor David Miles made remarks concerning the future of house prices and income which startled those looking to purchase property in the coming years. He claims inflation of the past thirty years will continue and create house prices which continue pushing upward for years to come.

Rarely does the remortgage sector within the UK housing market lead headlines regarding the market overall. However, since the beginning of the year 2017, this has been the case. House sales as well as house price growth are together taking a back seat to the obscure sector and it is surprising many within the market. 

Riding on the heels of an extremely successful year within the UK housing market, this year is starting with a slight whimper compared with the end of last year. The last quarter of last year saw thriving house sales, house price growth, and extremely high levels of remortgage activity. So far, this year has proved to see only one of those three success stories continue. Remortgage activity continues to be strong, whilst the remaining two seem questionable during the coming months.

The latest figures regarding the UK housing market point in one direction, according to many experts. That direction is to a period of softer times. Housing prices in the month of January grew at a slower pace than they have the previous twelve months. This has led many to believe that a period of a softer market is upon us. Growth of prices fell from 4.5% in the month of December to 4.3% in the month of January.