Next year will be a “turning point” for London house prices, aided by major companies heading back to the office full-time, property portal Rightmove has predicted.
Compared with five years ago the average asking price for a home in London is up by 12%, while for Great Britain as a whole they are 21% higher.
Barclays is one employer expecting employees to be present Monday to Friday, after previously allowing flexibility with remote work.
The Brexit year of 2019, and the subsequent Covid influenced years saw slower price growth for the London sales market. In 2019, average asking prices fell in London by 0.5%, compared to a 0.8% rise across the UK as a whole.
In 2025 Rightmove expects London price growth to be in-line or marginally ahead of national price rises.
Mortgage rates to fall
According to Rightmove, the average five-year fixed and two-year fixed mortgage rate will likely to be around 4.0% by the end of next year.
That compares to the current 4.83% and 5.08% for the five-year and two-year fixed rates respectively.
However the firm added that the future path of mortgage rates, even in 2025, is difficult to forecast as they are greatly dependent on unpredictable factors, including geo-political tensions and inflation.
In the next year two-year fixed rate mortgages are likely to become more popular as the gap closes with five-year fixed rates, and it becomes less attractive to fix for longer, the company added.
Rightmove predicted national average asking prices to rise by 4% in 2024.
