We’re off to a good start. The opening weeks of 2024 were friendly to the property market. January’s house price growth news from Nationwide surprised everyone, hopefully reminding us all of just how resilient our market is.
House prices rose at their strongest rate in a year last month, jumping 0.7% in January. What’s more, both Knight Frank and Zoopla have reported rising demand from buyers in recent weeks. As the economy stabilises, it appears that confidence is returning. Buyers appear willing to embrace the property market once again.
This isn’t confined to the residential sector either. Our commercial property market is expected to enter an “opportunistic” phase in the first half of 2024, according to Colliers’ UK Property Forecasts 2024 Report. Meanwhile, capital from global real estate investors could find its way into UK commercial assets this year.
Hopefully, even more investors could be tempted by UK property as the economy continues to recover. In what was likely a great relief for many, the Bank of England recently signalled for the first time since the cost-of-living crisis kicked off that it could consider lowering rates.
We need to see “more evidence” that inflation is under control before we reach that point, of course. But who knows, perhaps by the time the time we’re all enjoying a bit more sun this year, we’ll also enjoy seeing our costs slowing down.
What this all means, in a nutshell, is that lenders need to be ready for what’s shaping up to be a very busy year. Specialist providers specifically need to be on the ball. Brokers expect the specialist sector to “spread its wings” in 2024. As do borrowers themselves.
As borrowers struggled against product withdrawals in recent years, many opened themselves up to the specialist scene out of necessity, according to our own independent research. Over half (56%) of those we surveyed who applied for a mortgage in the prior 12 months said they were more likely to look for alternative lenders to help them finance a property purchase. This rose to 68% for those who identified themselves as property investors.
It’s likely the utility of specialist finance will come to the forefront this year. House prices may remain subdued in 2024, but many expect a recovery from 2025 onwards. The low cost window of opportunity may be closing rapidly. Speed is of the essence.
Fortunately, we’re primed and ready for whatever the market throws at us this year at MFS. Not only have we bolstered our headcount to keep up with the market, but we have also reduced our residential bridging and BTL mortgage rates to support our clients.
We’ve been spearheading the specialist lending market since 2006, and we have no plans to slow down in 2024.