Now a month into the new year, property industry experts are reflecting on what appears to have been a largely encouraging period for market activity.
It comes as motivated home-movers have been taking advantage of the unique conditions of lower borrowing costs, greater choice in mortgage products and a healthy stock of available properties to choose from.
Currently, major lenders are offering fixed mortgage deals as low as 3.5%, and there are over 7000 mortgage products available – the highest level since October 2007. Coupled with a 11.3% increase in properties coming to market in the first two weeks of January (compared to the same period in 2025), buyer enthusiasm has certainly been delivered a welcome boost, and this translated into a 57% increase in demand after Christmas.
In spite of the economic uncertainty leading up to last November’s budget, house prices and market activity have proved reassuringly resilient, with balance now seeming to be restored to the supply and demand governing the sector's health. Given that the Bank of England is expected to hold the Base Rate in it's next decision on 5th February, we can most likely expect a continuation of this trend heading into the spring selling season.
Of course, selling and buying experiences will vary according to location and property type, but with inflation stabilising, sharp price movements are looking increasingly unlikely. Instead, modest growth and stability is being predicted for this year, with improvements in average wage growth and affordability contributing to more favourable buying and selling conditions overall.
After several years of economic uncertainty, these signs of a market 'finding its feet' are helping instill in home-movers some much-needed confidence and motivation, creating a 'buyer's market' which many believe will amount to a much better-than-expected year for the sector, and a sign of greater recovery to come.
For more information on the Maidenhead property market, please contact a member of the Braxton team on 01628 674234 or email property@braxtons.co.uk.