The cost of living may mark the end of a booming property market, according to an estate agent.

Matthew Fish from Harrisons Estate Agents looks at the possibility in the wake of yet further energy cost increases to impact Bolton.

The average Bolton household income is £528.30 per week, compared to £578 in the North West region and £613.10 nationally.

The fuel element of household bills will rise to around 11 per cent to 12 per cent of household income, and Matthew suspects the leisure budget will be hit the hardest to pay for that.

We are seeing food inflation of around 10 per cent to 15 per cent, meaning that food will go from its current 14.4 per cent of household income to around 16 per cent to 17 per cent.

Matthew said: “It's going to be tough, especially for those people in rented accommodation who may not earn near the average wage yet, as they have similar fixed costs for gas, electricity and food.

“Although the amalgamation of the Bolton house price rises in the last two years, the increasing interest rate rises, and the continuing cost-of-living crisis, there is no doubt the momentum in the Bolton housing market will be slower in the next 12 months compared to the last 24 months.

“Nevertheless, I anticipate Bolton house price growth will ease (and, in some months, be slightly negative)."

Matthew expects transaction levels to be lower in the latter part of this year and the first half of 2023, yet they are most likely to stay close to the long-term average.

He said: “The boom is over, yet it shouldn’t be a bust situation.

“Those Bolton homeowners on tracker or variable rate mortgages will instantly increase their mortgage payments.

“Encouragingly though, just under 17 out of 20 people are on fixed-rate mortgages, the majority on five-year fixed rate deals, so their housing costs won’t go up significantly in the short-term.

“This will alleviate some of the interest rate effects, making it more challenging and expensive for new borrowers like first-time buyers.”

Another factor to affect the market is the announcement that The Bank of England has voted to raise interest rates to their highest level since 2008, which was also the single biggest rise since 1995.

The nine members of the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) voted eight to one in favour of a rise to 1.75 per cent.