Charlie Lamdin, property expert at Moving Home With Charlie: “Everyone is underestimating how many downward pressures there are on house prices, and how long they will remain in place. Even if there is the occasional month of ‘stabilisation’, we are at the beginning of a long downward trend in average house prices. Land Registry figures only include around 40% of transactions so they are not an accurate measure, and are subject to revision for up to 13 months. Prices will not bottom out until 2024 at the earliest. There is very little transparency on what is happening at the coal face of transactions, but we know that transaction numbers are around 15% down on their pre-Covid 5-year average. It’s not a lack of demand that’s the problem, as there is still plenty of interest and desire for property. It’s a lack of available finance to pay last year’s prices, which is what sellers are holding out for.”