Housing Market Cools as Mortgage Costs Bite

Residential transaction volumes fell for a fourth consecutive quarter, while headline prices declined only marginally — a combination that points to a stalled market rather than a correcting one.

The pattern is familiar when financing costs rise quickly. Sellers who bought at low fixed rates have little incentive to move, so listings stay scarce; buyers face payments they cannot service at current rates. The result is fewer deals at roughly unchanged prices.

Estate agents said first-time buyers have been squeezed hardest, with the average deposit now representing a substantially larger share of annual income than five years ago.