'Bottom-up' recovery predicted for housing market in coming year

THE housing market is set for a strong start in 2026, according to property experts, as home buyers make the most of falls in mortgage rates and put some of last year’s uncertainties behind them.

- By VICKY SHAW, PA

Experts predicted the recovery will be “bottom-up” rather than “top-down,” with some challenges at the upper end of the market and first-time buyers remaining a “driving force” on the first rung of the property ladder.

The base rate was cut from 4% to 3.75% in December, bringing an early Christmas present to some mortgage holders.

Around 1.8 million fixed-rate mortgages are due to expire in 2026, according to figures from UK Finance.

Last year’s seesaw housing market saw buyers rushing to beat a stamp duty deadline in the initial months of the year.

Around 177,370 home sales took place across the UK in March 2025 - around double (a 104% increase) the number compared with the 86,810 sales recorded in March 2024 - according to HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) figures.