By Ian Walker
Next year is expected to be a buyer's market with around 1.15 million U.K. homes sold and a busy first quarter as buyers and movers seek to beat the stamp duty rise, online property portal Rightmove predicted.
Rightmove said Thursday that strong competition with a high number of homes for sale will keep prices down, benefiting buyers despite continued high interest rates.
It said the average asking price by home sellers is expected to rise 4% next year, the largest increase since 2021 but in line with the average long-term price growth.
The average house price in November was 298,083 pounds ($380,712) according to lender Halifax, while Nationwide puts it at 268,144 pounds. The difference between the two is the way the lenders calculate their prices.
From April 1 the threshold that buyers start to pay tax on a home purchase--known as stamp duty--will increase, leading to higher costs. This is expected to result in potential buyers rushing to complete a purchase ahead of the deadline.
Currently, first-time buyers start paying stamp duty on purchases over 425,000 pounds, but this will fall to 300,000 on April 1. Other buyers currently start paying the tax on purchases over 250,000 pounds and this will halve to 125,000 pounds.
Write to Ian Walker at ian.walker@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
December 12, 2024 00:30 ET (05:30 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2024 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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