After months of lacklustre house price growth, the UK housing market posted an impressive number for the month of March. House prices increased in value 1.5% to bring on a new record set for average house price across the country. That benchmark is now sitting at £227,871 and is higher than we have ever seen before for an average house price, according to Halifax. What was expected to be a slow start to the year within the housing market has eclipsed that mark and placed an explanation point at the end.

Housing prices were expected to be resilient through all of 2017, but now they are beating even those expectations as the second quarter of 2018 begins. Mortgage lending overall is still above expectations and remortgage activity remains sky high. With the Bank of England strongly hinting at a rise in rates next month the amount of remortgage activity could surge even higher before the meeting of the Monetary Policy Committee which takes place on May 10.

House owners who have held back from committing to a remortgage are being urged to do so by housing experts. The possibility of a rate rise in May is increasing in the days prior to the monthly vote in May. An increase in the standard base rate will create a ripple effect resulting in higher monthly mortgage payment amounts for everyone not locked in with a fixed rate mortgage lending arrangement.

Although hike in interest rates would not be extreme according to housing experts, any hike in the base rate will result in higher mortgage payments. Attractive remortgage deals are still on the table as the current market has been labeled as a borrowers’ market.