Will house prices go up forever UK?
Interest rate predictions
This could in turn push average mortgage rates upwards of 8% (while still historically low, that is more than double the 1.6% rate recorded at the end of 2021) Based on this data, Capital Economics has forecast house prices to rise throughout 2022, before falling by 5% in 2023.
Average UK house prices hit a record £296,000 in August 2022, £36,000 higher than the same month a year earlier, according to figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS). The ONS said house prices grew by 13.6% over the year to August, down from a peak of 16% a month earlier.
Against this backdrop, estate agents Savills and Knight Frank expect house prices to drop by 10% and 5% respectively in 2023. Economic experts Capital Economics are forecasting that in quarter four house prices will be 8.5% lower than they were in Q4 2022.
The market will remain strong, but house price growth will slow and may revert to pre-pandemic levels. Buyer Demand. In December, the Bank of England raised interest rates for the first time in more than three years. This is likely to quell buyer demand, which in turn will help to stabilise prices.
Our forecasts suggest UK house prices will fall 5 per cent in 2023 and again in 2024 before returning to growth. Various factors will keep a floor under pricing, from the shortage of homes to regulations introduced since the global financial crisis that have kept higher loan-to-value lending at sensible levels.
The investment bank now sees U.K. property prices declining by around 10% by the second quarter of 2023. But some lenders are less sanguine. Nationwide, one of the U.K.'s largest mortgage providers, said earlier this month that house prices could collapse by up to 30% in its worst-case scenario.
With economists predicting a high likelihood of a recession in 2023, it makes sense to sell your home now. A recession means increased unemployment and fewer qualified buyers. So, even if home prices don't plummet, you could still have difficulty finding a taker if you wait until next year.
House prices will fall by around 9% between the end of 2022 and September 2024, followed by a bounce back of 2.1% growth between 2025-26, according to analysis from the Office of Budget Responsibility (OBR) following last week's Autumn Statement.
UK's 13-year housing market boom to end in 2023, surveyors predict.
Despite housing prices expected to drop in 2023, it will become more expensive to purchase a home. According to a new projection from Freddie Mac, the for-sale cost of a home is expected to drop . 2% in 2023.
Will house prices drop in 2024 UK?
Average house prices in the UK are expected to fall by 9% in the next two years, according to the latest report from the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR).
The buy versus rent debate
Rising interest rates in 2022 reduced affordability further, causing buyer pullback and a cooling marketplace. Some house hunters shelved their purchase plans and will wait for next year. In several cities, owning your own home is the clear choice.

Mortgage rates moving back towards 4% by the end of 2023 and a 5% fall in house prices would see most of the market's current over-valuation reversed by December next year. At present, we believe this will be the most likely outcome, accompanied by a modest decline in sales volumes from 1.3m to 1m in 2023.
Our guide for When Should I Buy A Home says yes – December 2022 is a good time to buy. Here's why first-time buyers should jump back into the market: Mortgage rates made the largest one-month drop since 14 years ago. There are fewer homes available to purchase in most U.S. markets.
LONDON, Nov 25 (Reuters) - British house prices will fall in 2023, putting an end to years of bumper rises, but a large crash was unlikely despite the cost of living crisis and increased borrowing costs putting a lid on buyers' ability to fund purchases, a Reuters poll found.
The UK housing market could drop by 20% or more next year, a property expert has warned. House prices fell by 0.9% month-on-month in October - the first fall since July 2021 and the largest since June 2020, according to new data from Nationwide released on Tuesday (November 1).
The Bank of England has predicted the UK is headed for a recession in 2022, with soaring living costs hitting households hard. The last time the UK entered a prolonged recession in 2008, house prices crashed, leaving many homeowners in negative equity.
Against this backdrop, JLL is forecasting that UK house prices will fall in value in 2023 by 6% which equates to an average discount of £17,500 from the average UK house price of circa £290,000.
The UK is facing a housing crisis due to a shortage of homes, as well as soaring rent and house prices. The war in Ukraine and the Covid-19 pandemic have exacerbated the problem. Boris Johnson has announced a "benefits to bricks" scheme, "extending the right to buy to housing associations".
The UK's biggest mortgage lender, Lloyds Banking Group, is predicting a housing market slump, with prices dropping 8% in 2023, and then stagnating for the following four years. The property platform Zoopla is also forecasting that house prices will fall next year, and puts the drop at 5%.
Why you should wait till 2024 to buy a house?
Falling house prices mean the cost of a typical home will drop from five times average household disposable income to 4.2 times in 2024, Mr Thompson said. “That would be the lowest ratio since 2015, marking a particularly opportune moment to enter the market.”
Experts are expecting real estate values to fall over the next 12 to 18 months, before they stabilize and then eventually recover. Overall returns over the next five years are expected to be between 15 - 25%, but they're going to be lumpy.
Savills UK | Savills forecast a 10% fall in the average UK house price, but return to peak in 2026 as affordability pressures ease.
However, in real terms houses absolutely do not double every 10 years and nor do they even go up every 10 years.
UK mortgage rates are set to stay close to 5% for the next five years as the era of low interest rates comes to an abrupt end. Home loan rates will rise steadily before peaking in the second half of 2024, according to the latest forecasts for the UK's economy.
Average house prices in the UK are expected to fall by 9% in the next two years, according to the latest report from the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR).
Home Prices Will Likely Drop
Fannie Mae has forecasted that total home sales will reach 5.64 million in 2022, an 18.1% drop from 2021; in 2023, that figure is expected to decline again to 4.47 million, a 20.7% decrease from this year. As a result, Fannie Mae expects home prices to fall, but only by 1.5% nationwide.
In the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) economic forecast it predicted that house prices could fall 9% by 2024. The OBR expects average interest rates on the stock of outstanding mortgages to peak at 5% in the second half of 2024, the highest since 2008. It will then fall back slightly to 4.6% by the end of 2027.
The longer the fixed term, the higher the risk that average rates fall below yours and you pay more than you'd otherwise have to, you also lose some flexibility. Based on the current economic predictions for 2023/24 a 2 year fixed rate could be a good idea if you are able to lock in a good rate before the end of 2022.
Interest Rate in the United Kingdom averaged 7.14 percent from 1971 until 2022, reaching an all time high of 17.00 percent in November of 1979 and a record low of 0.10 percent in March of 2020.
What will mortgage rates be in 2024 UK?
“Our view that interest rates will be reduced from 4.5 per cent to three per cent by the end of 2024 envisages more cuts than either the consensus or the markets.”
Price falls of up to 5% predicted for 2023
Average UK property prices rose by 7.8% in the 12 months to October 2022 according to data from property portal Zoopla, writes Bethany Garner. This represents a slight decline on the annual growth rate of 8.1% recorded the previous month. A typical UK home now costs £261,600.
During the 2008 financial crisis, investors needed to wait an additional two years for home prices to start recovering. And in 2022, they're only now starting to react to rising mortgage rates. History suggests that home prices will continue weakening through 2023 before rebounding in 2024.
The forecast for the housing market is expected to get gloomier next year before rebounding to 2022 levels in 2024. Fannie Mae's Economic and Strategic Research (ESR) Group forecasts single-family home sales to post 5.67 million in 2022 before dropping to 4.42 million in 2023 and then climbing to 5.25 million in 2024.
“The most likely outcome for 2023 is that we see a fall in mortgage rates towards four per cent with a modest decline in house prices of up to five per cent. The labour market remains strong and the supply of homes for sale is below average creating a scarcity of homes for sale that will support pricing.”