Whenever we find ourselves in market conditions that seem to go against the grain, it’s very difficult to make a decision as to what to do. Yes, interest rates for your average mortgage products are higher than they have been in over 10 years but in contrast, house prices are falling and are predicted to continue doing so. This is where that burning question comes into play - is it the right time to buy?

There was hesitation during the beginning of the pandemic where the majority said the market would crash and house prices would fall, leading to many waiting to sell their homes. The only thing that fell was interest rates, and we were faced with an unprecedented house price increase that took everyone by surprise. It was a great time to sell. Buying at the time seemed ideal too - borrowing was easily done and max loans were granted by banks without them batting an eyelid. We now find many of those purchasers coming to the end of their historically low interest fixed products in a falling market. So it begs the question… was it actually a good time to buy?

On paper, it looked like an ideal time to purchase a home. The harsh reality of it is that it generally wasn’t and hindsight is a wonderful thing. But no one could have predicted the inflation battles that have happened at such alarming rates, just as no one predicted the house prices would rise the way they did from 2021 - early 2023. The fundamental point here is that you can’t make a decision based on “what if’s?” or “that happened then’s” because if anything can be said about the housing market, is that it’s completely unpredictable.

Here and now though, we face a slight stabilisation of interest rates which is a welcomed relief. The Property Eye reported that the housing market is predicted to have fallen 7% by the end of the year compared to January 2023 - 2% more so than expected with further predicted fall of 4% in 2024. One might debate waiting to see what those house prices actually fall by, but we can’t predict what interest rates might do between now and then. It’s a lot to consider and weigh up for any prospective buyer.

Well… is it the right time to buy? At any given time, it’s almost impossible to answer that. But armed with the knowledge that in this moment here and now we know exactly what interest rates are doing, it’s as good a time as any. Waiting on the possibility that house prices might fall is one thing, but the unpredictability of interest rates, in my opinion, outweighs that completely. Buy when you have stability in what you can borrow because if you wait around to see what happens and you’re likely to never find a home!