The New Year within the UK housing market is starting with a shortage of housing sales and that has subsequently led to less growth of housing prices. Many close to the market have forecasted a cooler climate in the short term, and so far this forecast has been accurate. Inflation is creating a wave of lower spending on all fronts. Couple this with a shortage of homes available for sale and the market cannot help but face a slowdown.

So far, housing demand has now cooled off when compared with the last few months of 2016. Many experts are now recalibrating what they expect in the few months before us. Wage growth is down a bit, inflation is rising, and interest rates remain at lower than low levels. These factors combined point towards slower times within the housing market.

The remortgage sector however is still humming along. Those UK homeowners who were on the fence only months ago are now executing their plan and coming out with big savings. As long as interest rates remain low, which could soon end, remortgage activity is expected to remain strong.

Martin Ellis of Halifax commented on the housing market, saying: “These factors are unlikely to change materially during 2017. Nonetheless, weaker economic growth and increasing pressure on spending power, along with affordability constraints, are expected to dampen housing demand, resulting in some downward pressure on annual house price growth during the year.”

Howard Archer of IHS commented on house price growth, saying: “January’s correction in house prices reported by Halifax fuels our belief that house price gains over 2017 will be no more than 3%.”