Transactions comment: Cold weather not dampened desire to move

23 March 2022

John Phillips, national operations director, Just Mortgages said: “While the year-on-year stats were always going to unfavourable compared to 2021, a more accurate comparison is to the previous month.

“With transactions continuing to increase, the housing market continues its relentless progress.

“Looking at the past few months, the colder weather has not dampened desire to move, and the trend is positive as we enter the Spring months.

“One hurdle on the horizon is the increased cost of living, which will really pinch in April as energy prices rise. As always in the housing market, there will be a lag before the impacts are felt, but this may cause a few people to put moves on hold.

“Conversely, the Bank of England decision to increase rates may actually spur some people into action. As rates will inevitably rise somewhat in the coming months, savvy buyers may look to move now before they rise further.

“A slight reduction in buyers may not be a bad thing for the housing market, as it may slow the increase in house prices somewhat, with some predictions forecasting a decrease in March and April.

“While we don’t anticipate much in the Spring Budget for the housing market specifically, it will be interesting to see if there are measures to curb the energy price rise.”