Updated: Apr 26 Its been an interesting year, or three. Normal rules have not applied to the housing market since the onset of the covid pandemic in early 2020. The market flew. Who would have thought that when we were facing an unknown threat to our health. House prices soared with renewed demand and asking prices were routinely trumped, sometimes by over £100,00! But we can't put this all down to the pandemic. The housing backdrop for the preceding few years had been one of slightly lower demand, the number of properties for sale had been gradually rising and was due to reach tipping point. Cue, our little friend covid. This light the torch paper on greater movement in the housing market that was ready and waiting to develop. Add to this the 'race for space' and the stamp duty relief measure put in place to ensure things keep moving, and we have what happened from 2020 to 2022. You can't have such price rises and not have a downturn at some point. House prices got out of hand, and really still are. Lower valuations are as much to do with interest rates as they are to do with the market finding its level in any event. We have been keeping our eye on the state of play in Berkshire and Oxfordshire. The bulk of our surveying work is carried out in Reading and Oxford and their surrounding towns and villages. Knowing how many houses are for sale in our areas, roughly how quickly the are increasing and decreasing etc helps us be the best surveyors we can be. In January 2023 there were roughly 56,000 houses for sale within a 40 mile radius of our base for surveying slap bang in the middle of Reading and Oxford. This grew rapidly and consistently up to 69,000 houses by May - each a potential job for a local surveyors. Over the next 3 months there was very little change. The market moved more and we received more enquiries for our surveying services. Fast forward to now, September 2023 and the number of properties for sale within our catchment of Oxfordshire and Berkshire is racing upwards again. This is likely due to the majority of vendors taking a summer break and listing their property when they return. But what for house prices and what for the future? Well, anyone that can give you a firm answer is a liar. The truth is no one knows. But this is what we think is likely - House prices will continue to fall, albeit slowly, until spring 2024. This will be aided by more houses coming on the market, a stagnation or further increase in the BoE base interest rate increasing the average cost of a mortgage and concerns around the economy. Then will follow a period of stagnation as the market adjusts and buyer come to terms with what a typical mortgage now looks like, and then we will see an uptick again. Timings unknown on the last two predictions! As always, and regardless of house prices, it is always a good idea to have your house surveyed prior to purchase by a reputable surveyor. A survey can save you money by finding issues that you didn't know where there that you can then negotiate of you sale price - this is true regardless of the market conditions. So whether you are after a building surveyors in Oxford, a surveyor in Newbury or Didcot's finest surveyor - please give us a call, email for a quote . We look forward to hearing from you. Like reading our posts? Check out our housing market appraisal from Spring 2023 .