, are beset with uncertainty and have lots of queries for the experts – and hugely significant sums depend on our understanding the answers. But too often the responses are phrased in jargon and market-speak that we normal human beings can't understand. So what is really going on? We asked a team of property professionals, financial brokers and market commentators 20 key questions – and then translated their answers for you. Clarity starts here. How is the market behaving? It's splintering. Purchasers who need mortgages are stalling, faced with alarming repayment rates on top of rising costs of living. Those who don't are divided: some are pausing, while others are moving ahead, particularly if they can spot an opportunity. There's a further group, too, says Kate Eales of Strutt & Parker. 'Those who have mortgages with expiry dates, under pressure to seal the deal on a new home before that happens.' House prices: what's happening? The heat has come out of the market, although statistics are taking time to catch up. Latest figures from HMRC, which cover the number of homes sold in September, show that the market has been resilient. 'But these sales will have gone through with mortgages agreed three to five months ago,' explains Frances McDonald){kind=link}
We asked a team of property experts the most pressing questions of all; then we translated their answers into language we can all understand
The housing market can be a confusing and frightening arena at the best of times – and let’s face it, these are not the best of times. Because the cost of housing is such a big part of household expenditure – whether on a mortgage or on rent – and because home ownership is such a significant store of capital for the nation, the state of the housing market is a vital indicator of economic health for all of us.
That means that pundits of all kinds are constantly sounding off about a rise in this or a fall in that, about whether this vital indicator is about to fall off a cliff or that one is about to go through the roof, while most of us just scratch our heads.Buyers and sellers (and those who dream of joining their ranks), are beset with uncertainty and have lots of queries for the experts – and hugely significant sums depend on our understanding the answers. But too often the responses are phrased in jargon and market-speak that we normal human beings can’t understand.
So what is really going on? We asked a team of property professionals, financial brokers and market commentators 20 key questions – and then translated their answers for you. Clarity starts here.
It’s splintering. Purchasers who need mortgages are stalling, faced with alarming repayment rates on top of rising costs of living. Those who don’t are divided: some are pausing, while others are moving ahead, particularly if they can spot an opportunity. There’s a further group, too, says Kate Eales of Strutt & Parker. “Those who have mortgages with expiry dates, under pressure to seal the deal on a new home before that happens.”