The real estate website reported that demand prices hit a record high for the fifth consecutive month in June, rising 0.3% – or £ 1,113 – to £ 368,614. However, this was the smallest monthly increase since January, with the site saying: “The excellent market pace is relaxing a bit.” Rightmove added: “After a very strong first half of the year, the crisis in affordable housing is likely to have a greater impact on market behavior in the coming months, with further interest rate hikes expected during this period. “This, along with more options coming to market for buyers and the usual seasonal fluctuations we would expect, means that there may be some price reductions from month to month in the second half of the year.” As a result, the site expects the annual price growth rate to drop by almost half from the current 9.7% to around 5% by the end of this year. Rightmove also warned that a “logjam transfer” meant that those who wanted to sell their property had to go to the market in the coming weeks to have a better chance of moving before Christmas. A spokesman said it currently took an average of 150 days to complete a purchase after the sale agreement – 50 days more than during the same period in 2019. In a separate analysis, the EY Item Club – a group of financial forecasters – had a more optimistic view of the potential fortunes of the housing market. He predicted that housing prices would enjoy “continued growth”, with an “unlikely” crash, and estimated that the typical house would end up 52 52,000 this year more than it was shortly before the coronavirus pandemic began. Subscribe to the daily Business Today email or follow the Guardian Business on Twitter at @BusinessDesk It predicts that prices will end up 8% higher this year than they were at the end of 2021 and then increase by smaller amounts – 1.8% and 1.2% – in 2023 and 2024 respectively. The group, which bases its data on the UK Treasury’s model for the UK economy, said that while house price growth is likely to slow as a result of increased affordability, rising interest rates and falling interest rates. Household incomes, other factors such as shortages Homes for sale, low unemployment and the “unequal impact” of living costs pressures would keep prices from falling. The EY Item Club predicts that an average home in the UK will cost 28 283,000 by the end of this year. That would be 23% higher than the £ 231,000 in the first three months of 2020, shortly before the pandemic began.
