This information should not be interpreted as financial, tax or legal advice. Mortgage and loan rates are subject to change.
Categories: government and politics | base rate
Over a month since the Monetary Policy Committee at the Bank of England (BoE) voted to cut the Base Rate to 5%, the property market has shifted in some dramatic ways in response to this.
We have compiled some of the most relevant trends reported by various lenders and finance groups, covering a broad selection of topics: house prices, property sales and average mortgage rates.
House price growth
According to lender Nationwide, house prices are rising at a healthy rate. 2024 has seen the fastest annual growth since 2022. This growth trend doesn’t seem to be slowing down – compared to a 2.4% rise in August, September has seen a 3.2% year-on-year increase.
Property price growth was primarily concentrated in the North of England and Northern Ireland. In contrast, East Anglia saw a slight decline – the only region of the UK to see an annual price decrease.
Robert Gardner, chief economist of Nationwide, has given his commentary:
Average prices are now around 2% below the all-time highs recorded in summer 2022.
Income growth has continued to outstrip house price growth in recent months while borrowing costs have edged lower amid expectations that the Bank of England will continue to lower interest rates in the coming quarters.
Property sales on the up
Estate agents across the nation have been delighted to experience a surge in demand. HMRC have released the latest data on property sales, which have been encouragingly high this year. It’s expected to stay that way for the remainder of the year.
The demand is large enough that estate agencies in areas deprived of high-quality housing may be pushed to full capacity.
Economists believe that the increase in demand is driven by the competitive state of the mortgage market partially attributable to the Base Rate cut, with a larger variety of appealing products available for landlords and homebuyers.
Average mortgage rate activity
Finance information company Moneyfacts has released figures and commentary on current average mortgage rates as well as other related.
They calculated that the average standard variable rate (SVR) fell below 8% for the first time since August 2023, albeit only narrowly: it currently stands at 7.99%.
However, these figures mainly pertain to residential mortgages. For buy to let and commercial mortgages, rates are more on the stable side, with only minor fluctuations between the most competitive lenders.
At Commercial Trust, we have access to low rate products from over 80 lenders on the market. Speak to our advisors to discuss your objectives.
