With the New Year now well underway, I am often asked about my predictions for the property market in 2026.
To answer this question, it‘s important to consider that local markets often perform very differently to the national market.
These regional variations should always be taken into account, especially as in Maidenhead, home-buyer activity has always remained fairly consistent, despite fiscal and legislative challenges.
That said, buyer sentiment was certainly affected in the run up to last November’s budget, when economic uncertainty meant that 1 in 5 home-buying decisions were put on hold.
Following this announcement, however, and also in the aftermath of December’s fourth base rate cut, purchasing power has been bolstered by lower interest rates and falling inflation.
This rebound in activity looks set to continue through January and into February, with first-time buyers looking set to be the driving force for this momentum.
This is in contrast to last year, when detached homes performed strongest overall.
Currently, there are some challenges at the top end of the market, and I do expect that market conditions this year will favour first-time buyers, especially as lending regulation changes make borrowing easier.
That said, we can certainly expect more stability overall, and maybe even some modest rises in house prices…perhaps between 1 and 3 %.
The downward trend in mortgage rates also looks set to continue, especially if inflation softens further, as it may very well do.
On the whole, I predict that the positive property market themes observed in 2025 will also define 2026, and although this will probably benefit sales volumes rather than prices, the clarity and stability alone that this brings is both exceedingly welcome… and long overdue.
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