Mortgage rate rises will normalise market next year - warning

UK house prices have reached an all time high - but 2022 will see a more normalised housing market thanks to buyer caution over mortgage costs. 

That’s the view of Zoopla which has issued its latest monthly house price index revealing that strong buyer demand and lower housing stock volumes have boosted typical house prices by £16,000 in the last 12 months.

This 7.1 per cent annual rise in average house prices is down from 7.6 per cent in August.

Zoopla says buyer demand is currently seen to be easing in line with seasonal trends, but they anticipate it will build sharply again after Christmas ahead.

The stock of homes has been depressed all year and currently is down by 33.2 per cent, creating intense competition amongst buyers in the market and ultimately accelerating house price growth.

House price rises have increased household equity across the UK. These gains, coupled with homeowners looking for additional space, will underpin new supply pipelines and demand levels in Q1 2022.

While the supply and demand imbalance is set to continue, a normalisation of the market in the first half of next year will allow the sales pipeline to start to rebuild. 

Grainne Gilmore, head of research at Zoopla, comments: “This year has been a record year for the market, with the stamp duty holiday and the pandemic-led ‘search for space’ among homeowners resulting in the highest number of sales since  before the financial crisis, with 1.5m transactions. 

“However such a busy market eroded the number of homes available to buy, as properties were being snapped up so quickly. This imbalance between demand and supply has put upwards pressure on prices.”