Recent analysis of past property market trends has forecasted a slowdown in UK price rises, but an overall growth in 2017.
This research was carried out by economists of the Housing Market Observatory at Lancaster University Management School. They looked into property market performance since 2015. The objective of this research was to improve our understanding of the UK national and regional housing markets.
The study used quite a wide variety of factors at both regional and national level to reach its conclusion. This included factors such as the unemployment rate, price to income ratio, the number of housing starts and other variables to help best predict future trends.
The results of this research predicted a growth of 3.5% across the year. While this is a slight fall from the 4.4% rise in 2016, it is still an indication of a solid economic outlook for the UK property market.
Results May Vary By Region
This predicted increase in house prices does of course vary by region. On a more positive note, all regions are expected to see growth this year.
As expected, the capital of England is forecasted to see a slightly higher rise than the national average. London can expect to see a slowdown in housing inflation up until Q2 of 2017. However price will gather pace towards the end of the year to reach an overall increase of 3.9% for 2017.
East Anglia is the current leader by region and it is predicted to stay that way with the region likely to see a 5.7% jump in house prices this year.
There were suggestions from economists last year that the UK property market may see a price crash in 2017. However, the research states that low mortgage rates and sound domestic economic conditions should prevent a sharp fall in prices. Growth in house values should gather momentum towards the tail end of 2017.
