Estate agents expect buyer's market but warn of stamp duty change

Experts predict a buyer's market for house hunters this year, giving them greater negotiating power as the mood of the housing market shifts to "cautious optimism".

- Mabel Banfield-Nwachi

However, even hopeful expectations for 2025 are met with caution, as a temporary stamp duty relief for first-time buyers ends in the spring and potentially high interest rates and taxes bear down on the market.

Aneisha Beveridge, the head of research at the property company Hamptons, said: "The mood of the housing market has shifted from trepidation to cautious optimism.