Brexit may have been forecasted to take its toll on the UK housing market, but hopeful home buyers have found opportunities worth staying interested. Asking prices of properties have fallen to the point that home buyers are able to shop homes that would have been out of reach before and low interest rate mortgages are making borrowing cheaper. Lenders have also been offering creative deals that assist first time buyers and also high loan to value deals with attractive interest rates.

In the most recent Halifax report, the average UK house price has increased by 0.9% in October in comparison to the same month last year. The average house price is now at £232,249.

The month to month comparison revealed a decline by 0.1% from September to October, and a quarterly increase of 0.2%.

Transactions within the housing market increased by 5% from September.

Despite transactions increasing, there are fewer properties coming onto the market. It is believed that sellers are waiting out the general election in December rather than put their property on the market when buyers might be cautious.

Russell Galley, Managing Director of Halifax, remarked, “Average house prices continued to slow in October, with a modest rise of 0.9 per cent over the past year. While this is the lowest growth seen in 2019, it again extends the largely flat trend which has taken hold over recent months.

“A number of underlying factors such as mortgage affordability and wage growth continue to support prices, however there is evidence of consumers erring on the side of caution.

“We remain unchanged from our view that activity levels and price growth will remain subdued while the UK navigates political and economic uncertainty.”