Housing Market And Wider Economic Outlook

The team at Quealy & Co regularly monitor the outlook for various economic indicators to give us a good view on both the current and future direction of the housing market in Kent and across the UK.

At the Bank of England March meeting, the bank rate was held at 5.25% but the governor announced "We are on the way" to interest rate cuts. This aligns with consensus forecasts for the bank rate to be 4.4% by Q4 2024.

Better news on inflation is helping build the case for lower interest rates. The February inflation data showed a headline CPI rate of 3.4% from 4.0% a month before.

Consensus forecasts suggests inflation will be very close to the target rate of 2.0% by Q4 2024.

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RICs survey results: leading indicator for price growth

With interest rates peaking and a lower inflation rate, there have been more reasons for cautious optimism in the market outlook.

There are a number of leading indicators we can look to on how the market is faring. One of these is the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) Monthly Survey which leads trends in England and Wales house prices.

The survey's headline net balance indicator points to continued stabilisation in house prices over the next few months and a potential return to low levels of positive price growth.

The net balance indicator tracks the number of surveyors each month expecting a price rise versus those that expect a price fall.

The February 2024 survey pointed to a more positive trend emerging in both buyer enquiries and new seller listings.

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Are you buying or selling a home in Kent?

If you are thinking of buying or selling a property in Sittingbourne, Sheerness, Minster, Faversham, Canterbury, Rainham, Gillingham, Chatham, Rochester or Maidstone, please get in touch with our friendly team at Quealy & Co.

Call us 01795 429836 or email hello@quealy.co.uk to chat with a member of our friendly and experienced team about anything to do with moving home. 

You can also use our instant online valuation tool if you just want a ballpark figure of your home's value at this stage: Click here

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Source: Dataloft, RICS (Feb 2024), Land Registry, UKHPI,  HM Treasury Consensus Forecast, March 2024. Growth rates are annual average or Q4 v Q4.