House prices in East of England to rise by 3% in 2015 after record-breaking year in housing market
12-25-2014
The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) has said house values in the East of England will rise by a modest 3% in 2015. The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) has said house values in the East of England will rise by a modest 3% in 2015.
Matt Stott
The region’s booming housing market is set to significantly cool off next year, according to new research.
The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) has said house values in the East of England will rise by a “modest” 3% in 2015.
The prediction comes after average house prices in the region climbed to an all-time high of £289,000 in September before falling for the first time in a year to £284,000 in October, according to the Office of National Statistics (ONS).
But despite the recent dip, seen as evidence of the housing market finally starting to cool, average house prices have increased by 7.6% overall between January – when the average value was £264,000 – and October, the ONS data showed.
Jan Hytch, the East Anglian-based president of the National Association of Estate Agents, said the 3% predicted growth in house prices for the East of England, which matches the UK rise, was not surprising.
She said: “We are in the season of crystal ball gazing and the RICS prediction is very well researched.
“There will be a general election in May and people will be hedging their bets and hovering before making a decision, and there is the looming threat of interest rates (rising) in the background.
“It would not be a surprise if those factors combine to have an effect of dampening the market.”
She said the prediction would not be unhappy news to those in the housing industry, with agents facing a less “volatile” market and buyers and sellers dealing with “steadier” rates of house prices increasing.
Meanwhile, the ONS data also found the rate of the increase in house prices slowed down in October – a 12-month increase of 9.6% – for the first time since June (7.9%). In September, the year-on-year rise was 13.4%.
Ms Hytch said: “The housing market could not have possibly sustained those two rates (October and September) over a period of time. It would be impossible for people to be involved in the housing market who are not already.”