Surging mortgage rates ‘biting harder’ on fragile housing market

Rising mortgage rates are starting to “bite harder” on the UK’s fragile housing market by forcing sellers to push down asking prices. The average two-year fixed mortgage rate has risen to 5.55 per cent, up from 5.29 per cent last month and 4.25 per cent since before the war in Iran, according to homes portal Rightmove. Prices for properties put on sale on the site in October were one per cent higher than the month before, at £371,015, but the group says it is seeing signs that the housing market is starting to weaken. This one per cent price growth is below the 1.3 per cent average for October, a month when asking prices typically rise. Prices are virtually flat compared to a year ago, down 0.1 per cent. Colleen Babcock, a property expert at Rightmove, said rising mortgage rates are “really beginning to hit buyers’ budgets” by forcing sellers to keep prices down. “It’s an early sign that higher mortgage costs are putting pressure on affordability even in markets with l