UK house prices: average hits £350,000 milestone

The UK’s property market has hit a historic milestone with the average price of a house exceeding £350,000 for the first time.

According to data released by property website Rightmove, the typical asking price for a house in the UK was £354,564 in March – a 1.7% (£5,760) increase since February. The average monthly rise is the largest seen at this time of year since March 2004, pushing the annual rate of increase to 10.4%. All regions and countries except London and Scotland are now up more than 10% annually.

The jump in asking price was “partly driven by a huge mismatch between supply and demand”, with “more than twice as many buyers as sellers”, The Guardian reported. For sellers, the chance of finding a buyer in the first week is “higher than it has ever been for this time of year, and twice as likely compared with the same period in 2019”.

This is the “strongest spring sellers’ market that we have ever seen”, Rightmove said. All sectors are experiencing “very brisk conditions” and it expects the strong market to continue until “economic forces combine to move the supply and demand balance closer towards equilibrium”.

The boom may settle in the coming months as economic pressures begin to bite, City A.M. reported. “There are headwinds that seem likely to remove the current market froth in the second half of the year,” said Tim Bannister, Rightmove’s director of property data. “We’ve just seen interest rates rise again, and there are further incremental increases forecast for the year which will raise mortgage rates for some.” 

Graphic: rightmove.co.uk

UK average increased by £27,000 in a year 

According to the official data published by the HM Land Registry and the Office for National Statistics, the average house price across the UK was £275,000 in December 2021 – £27,000 higher than this time last year. Average house prices increased over the year in England to £293,339 (10.7%), in Wales to £204,835 (13.0%), in Scotland to £180,000 (11.2%), and in Northern Ireland to £159,000 (10.7%).

Although typical home values were £27,000 higher last year, the data also suggests that the cost of living crunch is “cooling the red hot” property market, ThisIsMoney reported. 

“Interest rate rises and the rising cost of living are making the property landscape challenging and may only get more difficult as the year progresses,” said Emma Cox of Shawbrook Bank. “For all potential buyers, securing a competitive mortgage with a fixed rate will be imperative.”

Average price by property type for England 

Average price by property type for Wales 

Source: Gov.UK

Article source: https://www.theweek.co.uk/london-house-prices/uk-house-prices