Best time to buy a home revealed as £25k could be wiped off house prices – but you’ll have to be quick

HOUSE buyers should move in early 2025 - when property prices are forecast to be at their lowest.

The Office for Budget Responsibility say by then purchasers could enjoy discounts of up to £25,000 off homes.

The economic forecasters expect average house prices to fall to £266,000 at the start of 2025.

That is a drop of 7.6 percent from a high in the final quarter of 2022.

The average house price in the UK was £291,999 in September this year.

But the OBR say buyers need to get their skates on.

That's because prices are expected to be 6.4 percent higher in 2029 than they were in 2022.

In his Autumn Statement Jeremy Hunt announced:

• The biggest ever price hike for tobacco products
•  A major win for The Sun's Save Our Sups campaign with alcohol duty frozen
•  A major benefit change for renters on Universal Credit
•  A £10,000 energy bill discount for Brits living near pylons
•  A £350 income boost for self-employed workers
•  A £470 payment boost for millions on Universal Credit
•  Millions will be stripped of benefits under harsh new rules
•  Nurses will save £500 in a personal income tax cut
•  No fuel duty hike in huge relief for drivers

It gives just a four year window for prospective purchasers to seize on potential discounts.

Brits have already seen the biggest year-on-year fall in average prices for 14 years.

They fell at their sharpest rate in over a decade in August — with the average value now £259,153, figures show.

The 5.3 per cent annual drop was the biggest since July 2009 and left house prices £14,600 below their August 2022 peak.

Collapsing house prices come amid a downturn in property transactions - with lower demand fuelling falling prices.

In September 2023 there were 92,600 property transactions, that's 19 percent lower than September 2022 and 2 percent down from August 2023.

The OBR added: "We expect housing transactions to fall by 6.9 per cent in 2024, a 1.9 percentage point steeper decline than in our March forecast of 5 per cent."

Home-mover completions with a mortgage in the first half of this year were a third down on 2019, while first-time buyer numbers were around 25 per cent lower.

It comes as those hunting for a home were given a boost in Chancellor Jeremy Hunt's Autumn Statement on Wednesday, with prices set to fall by 4.7 per cent next year.