Published by Michele Maatouk on 31st December 2025
(Sharecast News) - First-time buyers are expected to drive the UK housing market in 2026, with further interest rate cuts likely to improve stretched affordability. The for-sale market should accelerate moderately, with prices rising by 2% to 4%, while rent rises are likely to slow from the rapid increases of recent years, according to lenders and estate agents. With mortgage rates falling, earnings growth running ahead of inflation, and house prices rising slowly, monthly mortgage costs for first-time buyers as a share of income are at their lowest level since 2022, according to Halifax. - Guardian