{"id":21216,"date":"2023-12-29T13:02:27","date_gmt":"2023-12-29T13:02:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/new.contentdeployment.co.uk\/tomd\/2023\/12\/29\/residential-property-review-december-2023\/"},"modified":"2024-01-03T13:00:24","modified_gmt":"2024-01-03T13:00:24","slug":"residential-property-review-december-2023","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/new.contentdeployment.co.uk\/tomd\/2023\/12\/29\/residential-property-review-december-2023\/","title":{"rendered":"Residential Property Review – December 2023\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Sellers knock \u00a318,000 off asking prices<\/strong> <\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n

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Sellers accepted an average discount of \u00a318,000 on their property sale in November 2023 \u2013 the highest average price cut in five years. <\/strong> <\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n

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This is according to property portal Zoopla, which stated that high mortgage rates are continuing to impact housing affordability for buyers \u2013 meaning that sellers are having to adjust to a market where buyers don\u2019t have the money to meet their asking prices. As such, they can either reduce the asking price to what buyers can afford or wait it out until things improve.  <\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n

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Zoopla experts don\u2019t think sellers will have to wait for too long. Its Executive Director of Research, Richard Donnell, commented, \u201cFinancial markets expect the Bank of England to start cutting rates around the summer of 2024. If mortgage rates start to fall further, this will support an improvement in demand and sales volumes later in 2024.\u201d<\/em> <\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n

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Want to be happy? Here\u2019s where to live<\/strong> <\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n

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There are many things that make people happy \u2013 their family, their job, their hobbies\u2026 and, of course, the place they call home. <\/strong> <\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n

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Rightmove\u2019s annual Happy at Home Index reveals the happiest places to live in the UK. The Index is based on factors such as community spirit, nearby green spaces, and a sense of belonging.  <\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n

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And the happiest place to live in 2023 is\u2026 Richmond upon Thames. Taking the top spot from last year\u2019s winner, St Ives in Cornwall, the borough in south-west London has \u2013 according to London Mayor Sadiq Khan \u2013 \u201cso much of what makes London special \u2013 its access to beautiful green spaces, its real sense of community, and an array of shops, cafes and local culture.\u201d<\/em>  <\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n

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In second place is the city of Winchester in Hampshire, followed by Monmouth, Wales, in third. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n

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Buy-to-let lending to drop by 53%<\/strong> <\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n

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Research from UK Finance suggests that investors are increasingly staying away from the residential property market, with buy-to-let purchase lending projected to fall by \u00a38bn (53%) in 2023. <\/strong> <\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n

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The trade body also predicted that lending will fall by a further \u00a31bn (13%) in 2024.  <\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n

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This fall is often attributed to the government\u2019s decision to replace mortgage Income Tax relief with a 20% tax credit \u2013 a policy that is becoming ever more punishing for landlords with the increase in mortgage rates.  <\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n

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James Tatch, Head of Analytics at UK Finance, commented, \u201c2023 was a challenging year for both prospective and existing mortgage borrowers, facing affordability pressures from higher interest rates and the increased cost of living, as well as house prices still at elevated levels relative to income.<\/em> <\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n

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With these pressures unlikely to ease significantly in the short term, we expect lending to remain weak in 2024, with a gradual improvement in affordability reflected in a modest increase in activity levels in 2025.\u201d<\/em> <\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n

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All details are correct at the time of writing (20\/12\/23)<\/strong> <\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n

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It is important to take professional advice before making any decision relating to your personal finances. Information within this document is based on our current understanding and can be subject to change without notice and the accuracy and completeness of the information cannot be guaranteed. It does not provide individual tailored investment advice and is for guidance only. Some rules may vary in different parts of the UK. We cannot assume legal liability for any errors or omissions it might contain. Levels and bases of, and reliefs from, taxation are those currently applying or proposed and are subject to change; their value depends on the individual circumstances of the investor. No part of this document may be reproduced in any manner without prior permission.<\/em><\/strong> <\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Sellers knock \u00a318,000 off asking prices  Sellers accepted an average discount of \u00a318,000 on their property sale in November 2023 \u2013 the highest average price cut in five years.   This is according to property portal Zoopla, which stated that high mortgage rates are continuing to impact housing affordability for buyers \u2013 meaning that sellers are […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":21218,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[32,37],"tags":[],"hd_content_source":[116],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.contentdeployment.co.uk\/tomd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21216"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.contentdeployment.co.uk\/tomd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.contentdeployment.co.uk\/tomd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.contentdeployment.co.uk\/tomd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.contentdeployment.co.uk\/tomd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21216"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/new.contentdeployment.co.uk\/tomd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21216\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":21220,"href":"https:\/\/new.contentdeployment.co.uk\/tomd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21216\/revisions\/21220"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.contentdeployment.co.uk\/tomd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/21218"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/new.contentdeployment.co.uk\/tomd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21216"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.contentdeployment.co.uk\/tomd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21216"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.contentdeployment.co.uk\/tomd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21216"},{"taxonomy":"hd_content_source","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/new.contentdeployment.co.uk\/tomd\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/hd_content_source?post=21216"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}