This twilight period between December 25 and the new year is a funny time, a fug of nostalgia, indigestion and drooping Christmas trees. It’s also when experts like to get out their crystal balls and make predictions for the year ahead — and the housing market is no exception. Property prices have risen by 2.5% in 2017, the Nationwide building society reports. Many estate agencies think that growth will be lower next year, and that it will be outstripped by inflation. Countrywide, the biggest agency in the UK, thinks prices across the country will go up by 2% in 2018; Savills and JLL both predict a rise of 1%.

Source: The Times December 31, 2017 00:03 UTC