Read Our Latest Market Report

Welcome to the latest market report from LL Estates. The start of a New Year is a great time to take stock and also look ahead and when it comes to the property market there's a lot to talk about!

In our area of North Wales last year saw the local market buck many of the trends that hit national headlines around the UK, although of course we were also still affected by many factors such as interest rates and mortgage costs going up.

Now 2024 starts with a stability that bodes well for the coming twelve months. There's plenty of things to be optimistic about for anyone thinking of selling or buying a home.

House price predictions

At the start of last year many commentators were predicting a drop in property prices that would have been nothing short of a wholesale crash. This turned out not to be the case, although in some areas such as London and the south east the year ended with values having fallen by 3% or more.

However, across Wales as a whole by December prices were actually up 1.2% up year on year, according to the latest data from Rightmove!

Even this modest rise is more a case of the local market catching up with increases that occurred elsewhere over the past few years. In fact, anyone selling a home in early 2024 certainly needs to listen carefully to their estate agent about realistic pricing in a competitive market. This is the only way they'll have the best chance of getting good offers and a sale agreed on the time scale they're looking for.

Healthy demand

The New Year starts with the market seeing a very encouraging level of activity in terms of interest from buyers.

According to the latest data released by Zoopla, property sales and demand across the UK were almost a fifth higher in the final weeks of 2023 than they were a year earlier. New sales agreed were 17% higher and demand was up by 19%.

As things usually quieten down at that time of year it's a really good sign that 2024 will begin with people being highly active in their search for a new home.

What will happen in 2024?

The last few years have been exceptional for the UK property market, with records of all kinds being broken month after month. As the market continues to stabilise we can expect things to get back to much more normal levels of activity in the year ahead.

Of course things like Bank of England interest rate changes will continue to have effects, both positive and negative, and these 'macro-economic' factors have always played a part.

However, in spite of interest rates remaining at a fifteen year high, average mortgage rates actually fell for 19 consecutive weeks by the end of 2023, with the average 5-year fix deals a full 1% cheaper than they were back in July.

Ultimately, people will always want to sell homes and other people will want to buy and that will as true for 2024 as it is for any other year.

We cover a wide area including Denbighshire, Conwy and Flintshire so call 01745 591811 or email rhuddlan@llestates.co.uk if you'd like to know more about what the property market in North Wales holds in store for the New Year!