Average house prices in England and Wales will hit all-time high of £342,511 in December 2020, according to the expert predictions from reallymoving. As of January 2021 Britons will see the start of the slowdown, with prices in England and Wales set to fall by 1.2 percent.
This means the average home owner will lost over £4,000 off the value of their property.
What is more, this is an annual drop fo 15.4 percent, a drastic fall.
The housing market has been in turmoil, first over Brexit and then due to the deadly coronavirus pandemic.
The virus initially injected some life into the market, as buying and selling took of post lockdown.
It continued through the early autumn, meaning price growth will remain in positive territory through to Christmas based on sales already agreed.
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According to reallymoving’s data, annual price growth is forecast to reach 14.1 percent in November, 17.5 percent in December and 15.4 percent in January 2021.
Rob Houghton, CEO of reallymoving, comments: “As predicted, the New Year looks set to herald a change in fortunes for the housing market following an exceptional summer and early autumn which has pushed prices to record highs. But it was never sustainable.
“House prices cannot continue to defy macroeconomic influences such as rising unemployment, shrinking economic growth and the prospect of a No Deal Brexit at the end of the year.
“While we will continue to see positive growth through to Christmas based on deals already agreed, momentum is now slowing and we expect to see a reversal in the recent spike in house price growth over the first quarter of 2021.
Tim Bannister, Rightmove’s Director of Property Data, explained: “Given the ongoing mini-boom, prices might have been expected to rise again this month, but instead we have a slight dip which could be a result of some new sellers pricing more realistically to have a better chance of agreeing a sale in time to benefit from the stamp duty savings on their onward purchase.
“We know from a recent Rightmove study that sellers are twice as likely to sell if they agree a sale based on the first price at which their property goes on the market, something that’s even more important now as we move towards the end of March and the end of the stamp duty holiday.”
How much stamp duty will you pay after March 31, 2021?
From April 1, 2021, first time buyers will be eligible for a discount for properties of up to £500,000.