House Prices: Expert predicts rise for September as ‘insatiable’ demand drives value

HOUSE prices are on track to rise again in September, a leading property expert has predicted.

Property expert Jonathan Rolande, the founder of House Buy Fast and lead spokesman for the National Association of Property Buyers says “the insatiable desire” to own a home is continuing to push up prices.

And despite an impending Budget which the Government has warned will bring challenges, Mr Rolande thinks prices will continue to increase.

Mr Rolande said: “I expect to see a small but important increase to house prices this month. Savvy buyers are purchasing just ahead of the anticipated interest rate reduction as the speed of price rises will increase once rates are cut. Recent wage growth will also have a positive effect.”

 Explaining why, he continued: “The seemingly insatiable desire to own a home has helped to push house prices up again, the fifth month in a row. This has been fuelled by the increased availability of mortgages at cheaper rates. Mortgage approvals are at a two-year high with some rates below 4% for the first time this year.

“Confidence is somewhat fragile and buyers are being far more selective about what they buy and will walk away from properties that have issues or are overpriced. This something they were not doing in the immediate post-pandemic boom. Sellers and their estate agents must pitch the price accurately to avoid having to reduce later, to entice the still relatively small number of people able to buy.

“This means we have a quite well balanced market where neither side, buyer or seller, holds all of the cards. Each must play the game fairly to get a sale over the line.

 The lack of supply of property is still an acute issue but it has been improved by landlords who have decided to sell their rental properties to beat tax and regulation changes that look set to hit them hard in October and beyond.

“This small but significant exodus looks set to continue at least until lower interest rates make retaining a buy-to-let more viable for landlords with a mortgage. Increasing prices will also deter many from selling, creating, perhaps a greater shortage in the future that will, again fuel prices.

“But we have a lot to get through before then. The new Government has settled in, the honeymoon phase is over and we now need to listen carefully to see in which direction we’ll be taken. Much of what has been said already is rather downbeat, dour even. But it will take more than words to dampen the property market because the British desire to own a home seems as strong as ever.”

Mr Rolande’s comments come in the wake of the latest data which show how, over the first seven months of 2024, house prices have risen by 1.4%.  All areas of market activity are up year-on-year – the long-awaited base rate cut has not had a major impact so far. Price inflation has improved across all regions of the UK. It remains slightly negative in southern England, but London’s positive at 0.2%

One in five homes have had their asking price cut by 5% or more, an above-average level showing continued price sensitivity amongst buyers.

It takes 28 days to sell a home with no asking price reduction, but 73 days if you overprice and then need to reduce by 5% or more House prices are on track to be 2.5% higher over 2024 with 1.1m sales