As the UK housing market witnesses its largest annual decline in 14 years, the property landscape in the Mendip area remains resolute.

According to Nationwide, house prices dropped by 3.8% in July, the sharpest fall since July 2009. Despite this trend, local estate agents have reported a recent surge in activity in the Mendip region.

Melanie Lewis, a Shepton Mallet-based estate agent from EXP UK, has painted an optimistic picture of the Mendip property market.

"The market has actually got busier over the past few weeks," said Lewis. "This is unusual as the start of the school holidays is normally when things get really quiet until the end of August, beginning of September."

She added that she had quickly found buyers for multiple properties. "I have had two properties go under offer in the past two weeks, one after less than 48 hours on the market, and expect to agree a sale on another one this week. Considering my business is built on quality not quantity that's a great result."

While property prices have taken a hit across the UK, with London witnessing a 0.6% decrease, some regions like Wales, the Midlands and North England have seen price increases.

In the South West, prices fell by a modest 0.3% in July, as per data from Zoopla.

Despite a predicted fall in prices of up to 5% for 2023, house prices would still remain on average 15% higher than before the pandemic, offering some context to the current dips.

Lewis shared her advice for those coming off fixed-rate mortgages in the near future. "Make sure you speak to a mortgage adviser who has access to the whole of the market to be sure you can get the best rates," she advised.

She also warned against jeopardising mortgage choices by making major financial commitments. "If you are about to remortgage don't take out a new credit card and definitely don't get a car on finance. I've seen more people lose the house of their dreams because they bought a nice new car."

Offering further advice for weathering the market fluctuations, Lewis suggested homeowners consider downsizing as a temporary measure. "It may not be forever but a plan for the next five years would be sensible while the market settles," she explained.

While predicting the housing market's trajectory is difficult, Melanie Lewis's insights provide a beacon of hope for the Mendip area amidst the UK's broader housing market downturn.