2025 will be a buyer’s market say property industry experts
The increasing number of homes being listed for sale per estate agent will provide buyers with greater choice and reduce competition.
The number of homes for sale on estate agents’ books has hit a decade-high for this time of year and, says Rightmove’s Tim Bannister (main picture) that means property buyers will have more room to negotiate.
Bannister says: “There’s less competition among buyers than during the pandemic years, which could provide them with some breathing room to choose the right home at the right price.”
But that’s not say buyers have diminishing – enquiries were 20% higher on 26 December than on the same day in 2023 – rather the stock levels outstrip them.
Mixed picture
Aneisha Beveridge, head of research at Hamptons, is also predicting a mixed picture for supply and demand in 2025.
She tells The Neg: “The mood of the housing market has shifted from trepidation to cautious optimism. Lower mortgage rates have been the principal catalyst for change, falling more rapidly than we expected.”
“While there might be a slight uptick in transactions just before these (Stamp Duty) changes take effect, the overall impact is not expected to cause a significant rush as the potential savings for most movers will be relatively small.
“Overall, affordability is expected to remain the key determinant of the market’s direction, with incomes set to outpace inflation for the second year running, encouraging those who had been deferring relocation to consider moving.”
The market might remain sensitive at the beginning of the year as buyers continue to adjust.”
She does note, though, that in a clear sign of the growing power of buyers, the gap between asking prices and sold prices has been steadily rising over the last 12 months and Beveridge expects it to do so again when the Stamp Duty changes in April.
Hampton’s data shows, at the start of 2023, the average property sold at 98.7% of its asking price but that figure has now fallen to 98.1%.
Beveridge exclusively tells the Neg: “The market might remain sensitive at the beginning of the year as buyers continue to adjust to the lay of the land. However, we expect it to pick up a bit more pace as the year goes on, buoyed by further interest rate cuts.”
