Average house prices will fall as the New Year begins but will remain above the typical values seen a year ago, research claims.

Analysis of conveyancing requests based on sales agreed in September, October and November on comparison website reallymoving.com predicts average values will fall 2.1% over the three-month period between December and February, based on when these deals are expected to complete.

On a monthly basis, the website forecasts a 1.1% decline in December, 0% in January 2020 and a 1.1% fall in February.

However, prices will still be up annually, the website claims, suggesting the General Election and Brexit won’t have a drastic impact on values.

Based on its user data, reallymoving.com claims annual growth in England and Wales will be 2.6% in December, 2.2% in January and 4.5% in February when the average price will be £292,367 compared with £279,764 in February 2019.

These annual boosts are attributed to the market being more subdued in the autumn of 2018.

It said its forecasts have historically tracked the Land Registry’s own figures.

Rob Houghton, chief executive of reallymoving, said: “Buyers have driven hard bargains on deals agreed during the autumn, as would be expected in the run-up to Christmas and considering the wider political circumstances.

“But the market has shown resilience and stability throughout 2019 and as fears of a crash have faded, buyers have adjusted to the ongoing uncertainty and proven themselves keen to get deals done.

“Encouraged by cheap loans and favourable buying conditions, first-time buyers are a strong force in the market, accounting for 54% of all purchases.

“Transaction volumes remain down by around 12–15% currently, but if the Conservatives win the General Election as the polls suggest and manage to secure the UK’s withdrawal from the EU at the end of January, a rise in demand from these buyers could prompt a rapid bounce in prices as the uncertainty surrounding Brexit is resolved.”