LONDON, Feb 28 Reuters British home prices will fall less than previously expected in 2023 as a resilient job market and easing recession fears soften the blow from higher borrowing costs, analysts polled by Reuters said.

Inflation running at multiple times its 2 target has pushed the Bank of England to embark on an aggressive policy tightening path and Bank Rate has gone from 0.10 in late 2021 to 4.00 today.

Homebuyers are likely to be faced with a further increase in mortgage rates as the BoE will add another 25 basis points next month before pausing, a separate Reuters poll found.

After years of bumper price rises, the average cost of a home will fall 2.4 this year, according to the Feb. 1527 poll of 19 housing market experts, shallower than the 4.7 fall predicted in a November poll. House prices will rise 1.0 next year on average and 3.5 in 2025, medians showed.

It39;s likely 2023 will be a year of transition as buyers and sellers adapt to a new era of higher interest rates before the market returns to growth again in 2024, said Aneisha Beveridge at estate agency Hamptons.

UK homebuilders Bellway and Redrow reported a slight pickup in activity at the start of the year but said the market remained challenging, with higher loan costs and broader inflationary pressures keeping buyers away.

House prices soared by more than a quarter during the COVID19 pandemic, boosted by ultralow interest rates, tax incentives and demand for more living space during lockdown, but…