"We have seen a brutal mix of high inflation and elevated interest rates knock consumer confidence across the year."
- Nathan Emerson, CEO of Propertymark
UK residential transactions totalled 87,640 in November 2023; 22% lower than November 2022 and 2% lower than October 2023, according to the latest figures from HMRC.
On a seasonally adjusted basis, residential transactions were also 22% lower than November 2022 and 1% lower than in October.
The latest data means that residential transactions fell for the third consecutive month in November.
Nathan Emerson, CEO of Propertymark, commented: “2023 has not been without challenges for the housing market, with price fluctuations being a strong indicator of wider economic health. We have seen a brutal mix of high inflation and elevated interest rates knock consumer confidence across the year.
"Propertymark are positive the peak of the turmoil is now hopefully behind us; however, we must tread with caution over the coming months. We are currently seeing pockets of house price growth, which is reassuring, but to be fully confident this must be universally seen across the entire UK.”
Matt Thompson, head of sales at Chestertons, added: “Our offices registered 34% more buyers making an offer in November compared to the same month last year. A lot of this is driven by pent-up demand and house hunters feeling more confident following the announcement of interest rates remaining at 5.25% for the time being.
“We forecast for UK house prices to experience a slight decline of -0.3% over 2024, while London prices will show growth of 1.8% due to the higher number of cash buyers that are less affected by interest rates. The prospect of a slightly stronger economic outlook from 2025 feeds through to a more meaningful uplift in house prices. We forecast that this will result in growth of between 3.5% and 4.5% across London and the UK. However, we caution that any house price growth is more likely to be slow and steady rather than spectacular.”
