Despite a turbulent time financially for UK households, the year December 2023 to December 2024 was a strong one for the housing market. Prices rose by 4.7% year-on-year, which saw the average UK house price (£269,426) fall just short of the August 2022 all-time high of £273,751.
A strong end to the year saw London finish with a 2% year-on-year rise in property prices. Yet again, Havering consistently outperformed nearly every London borough, with prices to October 2024 showing a 3.8% year-on-year growth.
2025 outlook
Looking ahead, we see the market in 2025 being affected by the upcoming changes to Stamp Duty – certainly for the first half of the year at least.
From 1 April this year, as declared in Labour’s Budget, there is the end to temporary Stamp Duty threshold increases (introduced in 2022) and they will revert to previous levels. For those moving home, Stamp Duty will apply on purchases over £125,000 (currently £250,000) and first-time buyers will be hit hardest as the nil-rate threshold comes down from £425,000 to £300,000.
We therefore predict a rush of sales in the first three months of this year as buyers look to beat the upcoming Stamp Duty hikes. From April onwards this will no doubt start to settle down, and economists are predicting that house price growth will stabilise within the 2-4% range, once the effects of Stamp Duty adjustments subside.
Especially given the upcoming changes to Stamp Duty, time is really of the essence if you are looking to buy property. Alternatively if you are looking to sell, the market will be buoyant early on as buyers move to beat the 1 April deadline so you should get the ball rolling as soon as possible to take full advantage.
Get in touch with us if you want any advice or guidance on any of the information above. We’ll be happy to discuss how this could potentially affect your plans.