Wellingborough Property Market Report – September 2024

The average asking price of the 749 properties for sale in Wellingborough was £269,004 in August 2024.

This is a rise of £4,670(1.77%) from the same month of 2023. Since I started collecting the data in January 2021, the average asking price has risen from £215,584 to £269,004. A rise of £53,420
(or 24.8%).

As we can see, asking prices are levelling out at around the £275,000 mark, with asking prices of sold properties at £241,021, though this is still £27,983 (10.4%) lower than the average asking price.

Whilst this is quite a significant gap, it’s far less than the peak difference of £62,545 (22.9%) in October 2023 and less than £52,171 (23.8%) in May this year.

For the previous four months, the amount of sold properties has remained relatively steady at 9.8%, 10.1%, 8.7%, 6.7% and 8.5% for April to June 2024 with just the small dip in May possibly due to Rishi Sunak calling the election for 4th July.

The high I have on record is 14% in the post lockdown market of February 2022, and with interest rates at near 0%. The lowest being 4.5% a few months back in the festive period of December 2023.

If asking prices were to fall by 5%, they would be £255,554 (approximately the same as they were in January 2022)

If they were to fall 10%, they would be £242,104 (equivalent to around October 2021 prices)

House Price Forecasts

UK house prices are expected to edge higher this year, according to Knight Frank, as a mortgage pricing war and the anticipation of another Bank of England interest rate cut in the final quarter of the year revive the property market.

After a year of consistent price declines in 2023, the estate agency revised its forecast for UK house prices in May, predicting a 3% rise in 2024, up from an earlier estimate of a 4% fall.

With falling inflation and growing expectations of interest rate cuts, the agency projected an increase in property transactions.

In the three months since its last housing market forecast in May, there has been a general election and a rate cut, both of which have helped boost confidence in the housing market.

“Our forecasts appear to be on track, but the first Labour government in 14 years and the first rate cut since March 2020 have clearly shifted the mood,” said Tom Bill, head of UK residential research at Knight Frank.

“We’ve left our figures unchanged for now but will reassess them after the Budget on 30 October,” he added.

Lettings

The average asking rent in Wellingborough rose by £48 last month, from £1,019 to £1,067.

The current asking rent has increased by £162 (17.9%) compared to the same month last year and £364 (51.8%) from when I started collating the data in January 2021.

Rental prices show no sign of declining, though many forecasters believe that the rate of increase should decline in the coming months and into 2025.

With one rate cut already this year, and another expected to follow, the mortgage burden on landlords should begin to subside a little, though the rates they are paying will still be far higher than when base rates were close to 0%.

For rental prices to slow down more quickly, there needs to be an increase in available properties and/or the financial burden on landlords via mortgage rates and increased legislation to come down.

Nevertheless, it’s improbable that any changes in the above will be substantial enough to significantly affect overall rental increases.

*All data sourced from Zoopla Pro