<p><span>Savills has upgraded its house price forecast for 2021 while stating that the next few years will be "harder to predict".</span></p><p><span>The property group now expects UK house prices to grow 9% for the year, revised from its previous 4% which was forecast in March. Before this, it had envisaged 0% growth for 2021.</span></p><p><span>Savills said the latest upwards change reflected the effects of the government’s extension to the stamp duty holiday “and the impact of repeated lockdowns on what home buyers want from their homes”.</span></p><p><span>The business noted an “incredibly strong first half” with values rising an average 5.6% according to Nationwide data.</span></p><p><span>In 2022, Savills predicts house price growth of 3.5%. And during the 2022-2025 period it forecasts a rise of between 11% and 12% in values, bringing total growth to the end of 2025 to 21.5%. This mirrors its previous forecasts.</span></p><p><span>But “given the extraordinary conditions of the past 18 months”, Savills warned that the nature of growth over the next four years would be trickier to accurately predict. Interest rate rises were “critical” to the forecasts, with Savills’ projections assuming a Bank of England base rate “no higher” than 0.5% by the end of 2025.</span></p><p><span>Lucian Cook, Savills’ head of residential research, …