A recent news item caught our eye at Hogan’s – namely one about mortgages. Now you may already know if you’ve tried to secure a mortgage, or remortgage, that it can be a challenge.

August though was not a one-off, but a pattern of reduced activity since February 2023.

Some statistics:

Mortgage approval data from the Bank of England shows that approvals sat at 45,354 in August, dropping by -8.4% from 49,532 in July.

The approval data looks starker compared to August last year, when approvals were 37.3% higher at 72,321.

But there are signs that the cooling property market may be heating up.

At our Harehills, Leeds branch, we’ve seen most of our properties for sale and to let be mark as sold or let. We are keen to add new properties to our database too as we have over 30 years of selling and letting experience locally, with many registered to receive immediate updates on new properties.

Nationally, the Bank of England chose not to raise mortgage interest rates from 5.25% in September, after 14 consecutive rises in these. Many mortgage lenders are now offering sub-5% fixed term deals and inflation, particularly food inflation is falling (albeit slowly).

We wrote about in last month’s blog post too.

It’s always good to hear from experts too and Karen Noye, mortgage expert at Quilter, said:

“Following the Bank of England’s recent pause on interest rate hikes, we should have cautious optimism that the slightly improving market sentiment will cause buyers, sellers, and investors alike to have more confidence in the UK property market.”

The market is definitely a “buyer’s one” with many sellers offering lower asking prices as, priced too high, in such a market, viewings and offers often fail to materialise.

At Hogan’s, we’re proud of our track records of selling and letting quickly. We don’t overvalue to “win the listing”, we offer a realistic appraisal to sell your home.

House prices are falling nationally and locally – in fact, as a whole, the UK saw a 0.4% decrease between August and September 2023.

Since last September, property prices have fallen by 4.7%, meaning someone marketing a £150,000 terraced home in Leeds would expect the value to have reduced by about just over £7,000.

Kim Kinnaird, director of Halifax Mortgages, said that with the backdrop of higher borrowing costs, “homeowners inevitably become more realistic about their target selling price, reflecting what has increasingly become a buyer’s market”.

If you want an accurate valuation to sell (or let) your home in Leeds, or indeed across West Yorkshire, email us today at enquiries@hogans.co or message one of our team on our active Facebook page.

You can trust us, totally.