Phil Spencer's house price prediction

Rightmove and Zoopla might have recorded record levels of interest in the wake of the property market re-opening. However, Phil Spencer predicts that house prices will go down over the next year.

Speaking to Hello Magazine, the property expert revealed what we can expect from the property market in the wake of coronavirus. When asked whether house prices will go down over the next year he explained that things are going to get a lot worse before they get better.

The answer depends on how long the restrictions remain and how deep the damage to the economy turns out to be,' the Location, Location, Location presenter told Hello. 'But what we can't factor in with the housing market is that so much of it is driven by sentiment and how people feel.'

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'So if they feel uncomfortable or nervous about the economy or their job – it will translate into not much happening in the housing market,' he explains. 'People won't feel like borrowing extra money.'

'But house prices are not going up – that much is absolutely certain! It depends on consumer confidence and how long it takes to come back.'

'My personal prediction (and I'm not an economist), would be about minus five per cent straight away. And minus about 12 per cent in a year's time,' he adds. 'I think it'll get worse.'

Phil Spencer's house price prediction is sobering. Especially, after the latest figures from Rightmove and Zoopla demonstrated an increased homebuyer interest.

The increase in demand had many optimistic of a rapid bounce back to the strength of the pre-lockdown market. However, even Zoopla has approached the rebound in demand with caution.

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'COVID crisis and 50 days lockdown has created an unexpected one-off boost to housing demand,' explains Richard Donnell, director of research and insight of Zoopla. 'Many households are likely to have re-evaluated what they want from their home. This could well explain the scale of the demand returning to the market.'

'However, we expect the latest rebound in demand to moderate in the coming weeks as buyers and sellers start to exert great caution,' he adds.

Despite the challenges facing the property market at the moment, if you are determined to move at this time Phil Spencer has some final words of wisdom:

'If you're going to move, then crack on - or sit it out!'

Rebecca Knight has been the Editor on the Ideal Home Website since 2025; previously, she was the Deputy Digital Editor from 2022. She has a Master's degree in magazine journalism from City, University of London and has been writing about homes and interiors for 7 years. Her expertise lies in DIY projects, home decor trends and spotting the latest high street homeware buys that are about to go viral. She bought her first home in London last year and is currently renovating it (on a budget).