The UK housing market has shown recent signs of slowing down according to figures which indicate slow house price growth over the past few months, and even no price growth lately. There is however much life in the buy to let market which continues to be quite active regarding property sales. The remortgage sector remains active, but recent concerns about a slow month in March are creating a question mark moving forward.

The buy to let market is now making waves as one of the brighter spots in the housing market which has now been confirmed to be in a slow down period. Even though there are new taxes for landlords to contend with, Brits are still overwhelmingly in favor of putting cash into property rental than in the stock market. The FTSE 100 did increase in value over the past year by almost 20%, compared with house prices which inched up only 4%.

Martin Ellis of Halifax commented on the latest housing market data, saying: “Housing demand appears to have been curbed in recent months due to the deterioration in housing affordability.”

Ellis added: “Signs of a decline in the pace of job creation, and the beginnings of a squeeze on households’ finances as a result of increasing inflation, may also be constraining the demand for homes.”

Jonathon Harris of Anderson Harris mortgage broker added: “Mortgage lenders continue to offer rock-bottom rates with HSBC’s lowest ever five-year fix at 1.69 per cent, which was launched last week, proof of that.

“The issue for buyers is affordability and bridging the huge gulf between incomes and house prices. There is changing sentiment; the best in class properties are shifting but we are seeing a number of down valuations from surveyors as caution starts to become more prevalent.”

Harris continued: “Vendors are beginning to appreciate that their homes aren’t worth as much as they thought so we are seeing price drops in some areas. This is ultimately better for everyone as people who need to sell will be able to and those who want to buy will also be able to, resulting in a higher number of transactions and better fluidity in the market.”