After falling nearly 7% from a cycle high in June 2022 - well short of predictions made late last year for a 12% peak-to-trough fall - average house prices started rising again in February and are now only around 1% below their peak. "While we expect house prices to lose some of their recent momentum, the worst of the correction appears to have passed and we don't expect further sustained declines," said Andrew Burrell, chief property economist at Capital Economics. Average house prices were forecast to stagnate in 2024 despite predictions for a rate cut by the middle of the year. They were forecast to average 4.17 million units in the second half of this year, lower than 4.27 million in the previous poll. Despite a near 45% pandemic-era rise in house prices and the market starting to climb again, respondents were equally split on what would happen to purchasing affordability for first-time homebuyers over the coming year.

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Persons: Octavio Jones, Andrew Burrell, Brad Hunter, Hunter, Prerana Bhat, Indradip Ghosh, Pranoy Krishna, Ross Finley, Sharon Singleton Organizations: REUTERS, Reuters, Federal Reserve, Capital Economics, Hunter Housing Economics, Thomson Locations: Tampa , Florida, U.S