Why predictions of the housing market downturn are good news.

Why predictions of the housing market downturn do not herald the harbinger of doom.

1. High prices, and in particular, properties achieving well over their (Home Report) value, have been pricing out First Time Buyers and local people from buying in their local market.
2. The high prices we were achieving in the summer of 2022 were unsustainable, in some cases, shockingly extreme, and rising far quicker than earnings.
3. The housing markets rise and fall over time and a downward cycle is merely a correction to the previous high.
4. People who remember the crash of 2008 and fear a repeat should be aware that the banks are liquid now and eager to lend mortgages compared to their inability to do so back then.
5. Higher interest rates are a fright to many, but it should be noted that they have been held at a historical low for over ten years.

Our office in Prestwick has been complaining all summer that we have rarely sold a home to a local buyer as interlopers from all over the country and beyond have been cash rich and have been moving into the area in their droves to the detriment of locals wishing to move or get on the property ladder.

For sellers, there may be a wistful sigh when they see what their neighbours' homes achieved in 2021 and 2022 but if you are selling and buying in the same market, then there are benefits. Please see our previous post and video for more details. (Should I stay or should I go?)

If you are looking for some tips for selling your home, then click here to access the selling information and FAQs areas of our website.

Lower house prices should mean that first-time buyers will be able to return to the buyer’s market and also the likelihood that the survey value on the Home Report will become the maximum that most people will offer means you won’t require an inordinate amount of excess cash to buy the house in the first place.

So the fact that house prices may go down in 2023, remember that they rose by an extraordinary amount in the last two years and that any reduction is merely a correction.