Boxing clever with a bounce

Are you ready for the big day?

- Edited by DEBORAH STONE

Not tomorrow but December 26 - when Rightmove has predicted a bigger Boxing Day “bounce” than expected thanks to a combination of Christmas good cheer and post-Budget relief.This December has seen a larger than usual drop in house prices because of uncertainty over new property taxes, but already there’s been a 24% rise in top-end London sales, the website reports.

This has coincided with a mortgage market uplift, with brokers offering better mortgage deals thanks to relaxed lending criteria and above-inflation wage growth. The average two-year fixed mortgage rate was 4.33% earlier this month, an improvement on the average 5.08% at the same time last year, according to Rightmove's mortgage tracker.