The Year Ahead For Property in 2025

Date Published 06 January 2025

Having served the community in Ferring and Goring-by-sea as local estate agents since 1996 we've seen many changes in the property market in the area over the years.

One thing that's been a New Year constant is the natural desire for people to ask us to predict what will happen in the twelve months to come.

The main point to remember when any property forecasts are made is that what's happening at a national level isn't always reflected in the local market.

With this in mind we're happy to gaze into the tea leaves and give our crystal ball a polish - here's our take on what's likely to happen in 2025.

Moving

Our area is a highly desirable one and that means it will always have an active property market, simply because so many people want to live here. The other side of the coin is that others will always want to sell their home for any number of different reasons.

Working in such a dynamic local market means that it can often defy the 'doom and gloom' portrayed in national news stories. This year though things do seem a little different, as many commentators and industry sources are predicting a busy and strong time ahead for a change!

On the up

Although 2024 ended with house prices higher than they were the year before it was a modest increase along the lines we had predicted in our blog back in last January.

Looking ahead we are going to see a "stronger year for prices in 2025" according to Rightmove. In fact their prediction of average new seller asking prices going up by 4% is their highest figure since 2021.

Elsewhere Zoopla anticipates a 2.5% increase and estimates that housing transactions will see a
5% increase overall compared to 2024.

This sounds like very good news indeed for sellers, but it does come with a caveat.

Price reductions

By the beginning of December last year 38% of properties for sale had at least one price reduction, according to Daily Telegraph.

When your home is marketed at a price that doesn't attract offers it becomes 'stale', meaning that the pool of suitable buyers have likely been aware but rejected it. This leads estate agents to suggest a price reduction.

What's missing in this equation is the importance of getting the valuation right at the start and it's something that will certainly apply throughout 2025 too.

Making sure that you get an honest market appraisal from an experienced, established local expert estate agent is the only way to avoid this all-too common pitfall.

The fact is that neighbouring properties might command quite different prices due to many factors. A faceless chain-name agent will likely not have the local knowledge to fully understand this.

Big picture

As we predicted at the start of last year inflation came down, as did interest rates. Although more Bank of England base rate reductions are expected to be in the pipeline, there does seem to be a slightly more cautious approach emerging as to exactly when this will happen.

However, HSBC seems to be sticking with their earlier prediction that interest rates will come down to 2.75% at some point in 2025, which is a full 2% lower than the current figure.

If this is the type of reduction we can expect then that will be very good news for buyers indeed. And what's good news for them is good news for sellers, and so it continues.

As always, there are certain to be unexpected developments along the way, some which will have positive impacts and some not, but in general confidence seems high amongst all parties that this year will be another strong one for property.

As an independent estate agent that specialises in Goring and Ferring property we are proud that our reputation and experience means such a great deal to our clients. Hopefully we can help you this year too.

Call 01903 501 105, email Richard or visit our office at 325 Goring Road BN12 4NX and find out why so many others value our no-nonsense straightforward approach.