Most people will be aware that mortgages have become more challenging to get hold of during the early months of 2014. Experts are now predicting that house prices will abate in 2015 as a direct result of the countrys mortgage woes. Healthy growth in 2014 Figures issued recently by the Centre of Economics and Business Research have indicated that house prices would rise by nearly 8% during 2014. However they also predicted there would be a decline next year, with a projected slowdown of 0.8% in 2015. These figures apply to the average price for a property across Britain. Figures for July of this year revealed the average price had risen to £272,000. The rise in 2014 and potential fall in 2015 is being seen as a direct consequence of the sharp rise in prices seen during 2014. The fall is not expected to provide potential evidence of a housing crash though nothing could be further from the truth. Indeed a spokesman for the Centre of Economics and Business Research has stated that next years fall would only be due to an adjustment being made after the increase seen this year. Will this mean better news for prospective home buyers? It may well do, depending on how big the dip turns out to be. If it is only 0.8% as predicted it will knock just over £2,000 off the average price of £272,000 mentioned above. Yet perhaps it is the long term view of house prices that will be of most interest to prospective buyers. According to the latest information it appears that house prices will be rising by around 3% per annum, a significant decrease from the 8% seen this year. The challenge of getting a mortgage Anyone who has attempted to apply for a mortgage since April will have been subjected to the new mortgage rules that came into effect at that point. This has undoubtedly made life harder for many people, and increasing house prices this year will have contributed to this. While people will be pleased to see a fall in prices it would seem it may not be enough to make it easy for many people to buy. Another potential problem that could soon arise is the idea that the Bank of England could end up increasing interest rates at the start of 2015. This is by no means set in stone. However the mere prospect of it occurring will have many people considering their position in terms of how much they can afford to pay for their mortgage. In reality house prices can and will fall if people are backing off from looking to move thanks to the mortgage rules. A potential rise in interest rates may not help much either, contributing to what could be a fall in prices that goes beyond the 0.8% mooted. Many experts will be watching the market closely throughout the next few months into 2015 to see what happens.
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