THE housing market has experienced a turbulent few months with mortgage rates at one point soaring to over 6%.
The government’s mini budget in September led to lenders pulling mortgage deals from the market to reintroduce them at higher rates.
The Bank of England has hiked its base rate from 0.1% to 3.5% since December 2021 too, meaning mortgage rates have spiked further.
It’s seen house prices drop off in the back end of 2022 as people hold off from buying.
Halifax said they fell by 2.3% between October and November last year – the fastest monthly rate in more than a decade.
That said, some people will still want to move in 2023. But when might be the best time to do so?
The Sun spoke to Nicholas Mendes, from mortgage advisers John Charcol, who revealed his prediction.
Of course, it’s worth bearing in mind they’re predictions and the housing market can flex and change.
When will be the cheapest time to buy a house this year?
Generally, the best time of year to look at buying a home is in the Spring.
The process of buying a house can take anywhere between three to six months and often buyers want to wrap everything up by Christmas.
That means there’s normally a greater number of homes on the market in March, April and May.
But Nick said amidst the cost of living crisis and with homeowners worried about their monthly repayments going up, early 2023 might be the cheapest time to pick up a home as they look to downsize to save money.
“There’s going to be two pinch points this year,” he said.
“June and September there’s going to be a lot of people coming out of fixed mortgage deals.
“So people six months before then will be product transferring or re-mortgaging.
“It will see people who can’t afford to be in their homes going for new homes.
“Combined with the cost of living, food, energy bills, they’ll be thinking to downsize instead.”
What are the things you should check when buying a house?
If you are looking to move into a new home this year, there are some simple checks you can make before buying that could save you money.
Kyle Mattison, also known as That Property Guy on TikTok, has previously shared 20 checks everyone should carry out before buying a home.
And some of them could save you hundreds.
For example, checking the roof when house hunting could save you money.
Checkatrade.com says replacing up to five roof tiles will set you back around £170, but replacing the entire roof could cost £10,000.
Looking around to see if there’s any damp in the property will save you a headache later on down the line too.
Removing mould can cost between £50 and £250 for a single room, or up to £1,500 to install a damp proof course around the entire house.
One first-time buyer previously told The Sun how they were hit with a £20k bill for fixing damp.
You might not think too much about it, but having sockets in the wrong places can really cause you aggro after moving in somewhere as well.
Rewiring a property can cost between £3,900 and £10,000, according to checkatrade.
