The UK housing market is still showing unexpected strength in the wake of the Brexit vote. Many had expected a slide in demand that would pull down house prices. While that may have been bad for the economy overall, there were surely hopeful home buyers that saw such a switch in the trend of rising prices as an opportunity. They would, had prices dropped, found an opening in which to take advantage and climb onto the property ladder.

However, such a drop did not occur. Demand has remained strong and asking prices have risen, especially for starter homes. First time buyers are facing an increase in one and two bedroom properties by 8.2% for the twelve months to November. Overall, the average asking price, according to Rightmove, increased by 4.5% in an annual comparison.

First time buyers therefore are finding it just as hard to afford a home even with historically low interest rates available from lenders.

Home movers may find an advantage in that their asking price is likely attractive for them with a strong demand of buyers showing interest. However, they will find their own purchase power is restrained in getting a new property. The best possible scenario is selling at a top rate and finding a more affordable property elsewhere for either moving into a larger home or scaling back to a smaller one.

Homeowners staying put could find their equity strongly growing even in the face of an uncertain economic future. This will add confidence to those homeowners seeking a cash equity release from their property. Overall, the historically low interest rates, even on long term fixed rate remortgages, will be attractive to homeowners.

The expectation is that house prices will remain resilient and while growth will slow down with the colder weather approaching, there could very well be a warming up to the market as the weather shakes off winter. Experts forecast 2017 will see growth in the average house prices in the spring due mostly to the lack of available stock of homes in place to meet demand.