Zoopla have published their most recent UK House Price Index for April 2023. Here are some of the main points that Zoopla shared :
"The housing market continues to experience a soft repricing." says Zoopla, the positive news though is that sellers are seemingly adjusting there prices to more readily meet the buyers needs which leads to an increase in sales volumes. Another comment they made was that the "Market conditions at the end of Q1 are better than many had expected - buyers and sellers are striking deals at an increasing rate."
Zoopla also said that although the mortgage rates have dropped back down towards 4%, the average homebuyer has 20% less buying power than a year ago. This isn't all bad news though as it stated that "This doesn’t mean average house prices need to fall by this much… buyers are seeking out better value-for-money areas, smaller homes or supporting their purchases with larger deposits"
There is some other good news in the article as it says "We expect 500,000 sales completions in H1 2023 meaning we are on track for 1m sales, potentially even higher in 2023. Sales activity is being supported by 65% more homes for sale compared to March 2022 and falling mortgage rates."
Due to the increase in people working from home Zoopla says there has been "a shift in sales towards markets with better value for money and expect the inner London flats market to see more activity in 2023."
First-time buyers will be interested to read that Zoopla said "Mortgage repayments are below rental costs in many regions at 4% mortgage rates.” Another point it made was “FTBs accounted for 1 in 3 sales in 2022. We believe that FTB numbers will continue to hold up this year”
To read the full April 2023 House Price Index on Zoopla, visit https://bit.ly/40JI7sk
