The Bank of England has left the interest rate at 5.25%.
Fox Estates have won yet another award!
We have won the Bronze British Property Awards for best agent in the whole of Kent!
As an independent estate agency, we are thrilled to have won this award as we have been judged against over 226 agents in Kent.
2023 was a good year for us as we also won the Shop of the Year award at the Dartford Business Awards plus we are Gold winners of the British Property Awards for Dartford.
Our aim is always to provide exceptional customer service and the three awards we won in 2023 prove that we are winners with the highest of standards.
The number of first-time buyers who bought a home with a mortgage fell to a ten-year low in 2023, according to the Yorkshire Building Society.
Would-be buyers have been forced to put their plans on hold - soaring mortgage rates, high inflation and record increases in rent have made it harder than ever to scrape together a large enough deposit, unless they have financial help from loved ones.
But Lewis Shaw, mortgage expert at Shaw Financial Services, says falling inflation and interest rates could ease the cost of borrowing, opening up buying opportunities that didn't exist in 2023.
'First-time buyers have a great chance in 2024 to take a step on to the ladder without the competition they've faced from the landlords over the past decade.'
This is because dramatic increases in buy-to-let mortgage rates forced many landlords to sell up last year. The Conservatives are expected to promise to cut the upfront cost of a home for first-time buyers as a last-ditch attempt to win over younger voters. This could deliver another boost for renters looking to buy their first home.
Daily Mail
The starting gun was fired on a mortgage price war yesterday.
HSBC became the first major bank to offer fixed-rate deals under 4 per cent, with rival lenders expected to follow suit.
Daily Mail
House prices suffered their biggest fall since 2008 this year after a sharp rise in borrowing costs put off buyers. Prices are 4.5% down from their all-time peak in the summer of 2022 - and the building society's experts said there was unlikely to be a rapid rebound in 2024.
Robert Gardner of Nationwide, said that the number of transactions this year involving a mortgage was down by around a fifth compared with pre-Covid levels reflecting higher borrowing costs.
Hopes are growing that, with inflation now falling, the Bank of England can start to cut rates after holding its benchmark lending rates at 5.25%. Yet with borrowing costs only coming down moderately and the economy still sluggish, house prices could fall by a further 2%, Mr Gardner warned, 'A rapid rebound in activity or house prices in 2024 appears unlikely,' he said.
Daily Mail.
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