In a surprise move, the standard base interest rate held at 5.25% after the Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meeting on Thursday. The experts and others forecasted a 0.25% increase that would have put the rate at 5.5% in September. However, the rate held ending the consecutive meeting increases that had lasted through fourteen meetings since December 2021. The rate is now considered the possible peak rate and will be allowed to work against inflation.

The current economy is unfriendly to many, but homeowners might be the most pressured. They have struggled to survive the gloom and doom of Brexit only to enter a global pandemic followed by double digit inflation. The household budget has been under attack from unusual sources. No one could confidently predict what would occur during Brexit, or the pandemic, or the recovery high inflation economy to follow. Homeowners could be teetering on the edge of affordability or sitting along the sidelines hoping for the best and a break in their difficulties and worries.

Signs are pointing to a slower UK housing market. Interest rates are higher and set to rise again in days. Demand has slowed as estate agents reported fewer inquiries in a recent poll. Now, in a new sign of a housing market losing its robust momentum that was surprising experts only a year ago, asking prices are being cut by sellers. According to Rightmove, an online property listing site, the highest number of sellers have cut their asking prices since 2011. More than 36% of properties are now listed at a lower price than they were previously.

Homeowners were once hopeful home buyers. They shopped for the home they both loved and could afford. Once the mortgage was approved and everyone was moved to the new property it could be thought that things were in place. As long as repayments were worked into the household budget and made on time, all would be well. However, all is not as it would seem, and many homeowners are caught off guard, and worse yet, they could be paying more than necessary and are missing out on saving money. This avoidable scenario could also cause affordability issues.

There might not be a better indicator of the future of the housing market than straight from those experiencing it daily, the estate agents. The latest survey data from the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) reveals the agents are less optimistic than they have been in 14 years. The house price balance, which measures the percentage of rises and falls of home prices forecasted by surveyors fell to minus 68 in August, which is further down from the minus 55 recorded in July. This reading on the future performance of the housing market is the lowest recorded since 2009 and lower than the predicted minus 56 recorded in a poll by Reuters of economists.

The next meeting of the Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) is turning out to be a must watch event much like that of a sporting event. There are different expectations and viewpoints being shared from MPC members, experts, and government officials as to what should occur. The next meeting will likely be lively as the MPC discusses the current state of the economy and whether inflation is under control. If the meeting on 21 September results in a rate hike, it will be the fifteenth consecutive meeting to have a majority vote to raise the standard base interest rate.