Is now a good time to buy a house – or is it better to keep renting?

House prices have hit record highs, with many buyers facing a dilemma… should they commit now, or wait for prices to go back down?

In July, surveyors said they saw the first signs the market is beginning to cool.

In its monthly survey, the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) found that 27% of professionals reported a fall in interest from potential house buyers.

It was the third consecutive month that interest from new buyers slipped.

But it’s not all good news – 52% of professionals have predicted that rents will also rise in the coming months.

While she may not have a crystal ball, personal finance expert Gemma Godfrey has some advice for those weighing up whether now is the time to take the plunge into home ownership…

If you’re considering when to buy a house, rather than if you should buy rather than rent, then you’re asking about how to time the market. The question requires making predictions about if and when house prices might fall.

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But a crash in the housing market might be more of a concern to sellers than buyers. While a buyer might miss out on buying a house cheaper, if it’s a home they want to live in for years, then even if the value of the house falls after buying it, there still might be a long time for prices to recover before selling it.

There’s also the emotional return of enjoying living in an owned home, especially while rents are high. And in terms of “missing out on a cheaper price”, there are areas of the UK that are in high demand and there’s a risk that a dream home might be lost waiting for a better time to buy. With a move being made for work, there might be restrictions on where to buy, for example with an easy commute to work, and this might further restrict buying options.

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It can already take time to find the right home, and if there’s trouble in the housing market and with interest rates rising, it might get harder to find an affordable mortgage. During this time, savings for a deposit might end up being spent on rent instead.

There are lots of uncertainties at the moment. House prices can fall as well as rise. It may simply just be worth starting to research what’s on offer and compare options that are available and affordable.

Gemma is a business advisor, finance expert and TV host, an ambassador for the charity Surviving Economic Abuse, and a former boardroom adviser to Arnold Schwarzenegger on The Apprentice.