UK housing market 2024: Rightmove forecast for property buying in the UK next year

Rightmove, the UK’s largest online real estate property portal, have unveiled their property forecast for 2024 - which has predicted price decreases in the New Year.

Over the past few years, the housing market has seen record breaking price increases, as well as a large demand for houses. 

This was due to the increase in cost of living, leading to interest and mortgage rates to spike, with many putting their house buying plans on hold. 

Rightmove reported that the average asking price for housing was set to decrease in 2023 by 2 per cent. 

The predictions from Rightmove were reflected during the year, as they revealed the housing market has been “better than many predicted”.

Rightmove have now released their forecast for 2024, which has revealed further price decreases.

In their forecast, Rightmove explained that the housing market will return to “normal levels of activity following the frenetic post-pandemic period”. 

They have predicted that new seller asking prices will be 1 percent lower across the UK.

Rightmove’s property expert Tim Bannister said: “It’s likely to be another muted year for the market, however the better than anticipated activity this year has shown that many buyers are still getting on with satisfying their housing needs. 

“We predict a modest average 1% fall in new seller asking prices in 2024. The underlying level of good demand at the right price makes it unlikely that we will see a more significant drop in prices next year.”

“Our forecast is based on its whole of market data and house price predictive model using millions of supply, demand and pricing data, along with insights from estate agents and a panel of Rightmove experts.”

However, they reported that in areas that have fewer houses for sale, prospective buyers may find new sellers’ asking prices remaining flat, or with a very slight increase in comparison to 2023.

Tim continued: “In areas where sellers are struggling to attract affordability-stretched buyers, or needing to sell quickly due to a change of circumstance, new job opportunity, or strong desire for a lifestyle change, we are likely to see even more competitive pricing.”

For those wanting to sell a home in 2024, Rightmove has explained that the levels of sales being agreed upon is 10 percent lower than 2019. 

However, the average time for a seller to find a buyer has increased from 45 days to 66 days, but those with competitive prices have been able to find a buyer quicker.

Tim further explained: “New sellers will need to compete with their cut-price neighbours, and work with their estate agent to start with a competitive price, rather than starting too high and needing to reduce later. Our research shows that pricing right at the outset maximises the initial impact among local buyers and gives new sellers a much greater likelihood of a successful sale.”

Most importantly, Rightmove have revealed that mortgage rates have dropped with the average two-year fixed rate at 5.52 percent, and the average five-year rate is 5.11 percent.