By Enzo Mora CEO and founder of the Mortgage Brain  

Official figures from the government, along with reports from lenders and property portals, are all pointing to slower house price growth at the end of last year – a trend that's expected to continue in 2023. 

For two reasons, this could be a good time to move, or at least start thinking about it. In a cooler housing market, there is less competition, so you may not be pressurised into offering more money to secure your dream home while, as more property comes to market, they'll be more properties to choose from. Mortgage interest rates have risen but they have most probably peaked, and any deposit saved could be earning a bit of interest at last.

To stress or not to stress?

A new survey from Legal & General Retail indicates 58% of respondents said they paid over budget for their most recent property, while 33% wished they had saved more before committing. Moving home was also identified as the most stressful life event, with buyers and sellers citing waiting to exchange as the biggest bugbear. 

I can't pretend it isn't a stressful experience, but we help all our customers along the way and our advisers are here to answer all your questions. Pre-move budgeting will help and a careful look at all the extra expenses such as legal fees, surveying and conveyancing costs means there won't be any unwelcome and stressful surprises at the crucial moment. Despite all the challenges, a resounding 84% of adults polled said they would still consider moving again in the future.

Home is where you heart is

Never lose sight of a property first and foremost being your home for the foreseeable future; it's not just an investment. Zoopla has just revealed some startling figures from tracking the value of the UK's 30m homes. The total value of UK housing broke the £10 trillion mark early in 2022 and reached £10.5 trillion by the end of 2022. This is an increase of £700bn over the year, or nearly £80m added to the value of the nation's housing every hour on average through 2022. While 92% of homeowners saw their property increase in value last year due to low supply and high demand, one million homes have lost all their pandemic gains. However, 12 out of 13 homeowners saw the value of their home increase by an average of £19,000, with almost 3m making more than £50,000. That's some investment.

Mortgages – cheaper than renting?

Would-be first time buyers currently paying high rents could find that monthly mortgage repayments are lower on a similar property if they buy in a cheaper area. This is even with higher interest rates. Rents are continuing to rise as people delay a purchase to save more deposit. Hesitating could be a false economy, so please have a chat with a broker like The Mortgage Brain to see what sort of mortgage rate you can access, based on your current saved deposit and salary. Our aim is to get you on the ladder in the most affordable way.

To find out more about The Mortgage Brain, visit www.themortgagebrain.net  or call 0333 340 8888.