House prices dip as interest rates force buyers to delay plans

Average UK house prices fell by 0.4% in April, taking the annual rate of house price growth to 0.6% in April, from 1.6% a month earlier.

The news has come from the Nationwide, whose chief economist - Robert Gardner - says: “The slowdown likely reflects ongoing affordability pressures, with longer term interest rates rising in recent months, reversing the steep fall seen around the turn of the year. House prices are now around 4% below the all-time highs recorded in the summer of 2022, after taking account of seasonal effects.

“Recent research … on behalf of Nationwide found that nearly half (49%) of prospective first-time buyers (those looking to buy in the next five years) have delayed their plans over the past year.

“Among this group, the most commonly cited reason for delaying their purchase is that house prices are too high (53%), but it is also notable that 41% said that higher mortgage costs were preventing them from buying.

“Coupled with this, 84% of prospective first-time buyers said that the cost of living has affected their plans to buy, for example through having less money each month to save for a deposit. 

“Around two thirds (67%) of respondents currently have between £0 and £10,000 saved towards a deposit. With a 10% deposit on a typical first-time buyer property currently around £22,000, it is not surprising to find that c.60% of prospective buyers have yet to save more than a quarter of their target deposit.

“Interestingly, 55% of respondents said they would be willing to buy in another part of the country where house prices are cheaper, or where they could buy a bigger property. Inevitably, there is a lot of variation in how far people would be willing to move, but half said they would move more than 30 miles from their current location.

“Buying a property in a less expensive area appears to be the most common compromise that prospective buyers will make. Around a third (32%) said they would consider a smaller property than they wanted, while 28% would go for a property that needed work doing.”

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