The UK property market has continued to grow in spite of the end of the stamp duty holiday in September, with property prices rising for every kind of buyer and in every region of Britain including the capital city London, where prices had stagnated at one point some months ago.
Across Britain, home sellers were asking for £344,445 on average, £5,983 more than in September.
There has been growth across the entire spectrum, from first time buyers to those at the very highest rung of the property ladder. The average UK house price is up 6.5 per cent on October last year, despite the end of the stamp duty holiday.
Property platform Rightmove put the resilience of the market down to a rush to do a deal and lock in lower fixed mortgage rates before a Bank of England rate rise as well as fast turnover of property for sale.
Some people had feared the end of the stamp duty holiday taper, as the tax returned to full whack. Such fears appear to have proved unfounded. The stamp duty holiday in England and Northern Ireland was tapered from July this year, before ending completely at the end of last month.
Rightmove’s director of property data Tim Bannister said the full house effect was an “extremely rare event”.
He added: “The stock shortages started after the first (Covid) lockdown, and they look set to continue with the underlying housing market fundamentals remaining strong, and an additional incentive to buy and fix your mortgage interest rate before a widely expected rate rise.”
Bannister said although more properties were coming to the market, there was still not enough to match high levels of demand. Director of estate agents Benham and Reeves, Marc von Grundherr said a return of staff to the workplace and foreign buyers coming back in was boosting London property prices.
He said: “Don’t be surprised to see London regain the property price growth top spot before the year is out. Homes are selling fast and for a very good price.” Some London boroughs which were lagging behind, witnessed the highest annual growth in prices.
The latest UK House Price Index shows that London house prices climbed by 5.6 per cent between August last year and July – a £27,810 leap. The average UK house price was £25,000 higher in August than a year earlier, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS). The figures showed property values increased by 10.6 per cent over the year to August 2021, up from 8.5 per cent in July.
A breakdown of the different regions in the UK shows the increases specifically in each area. The average house price in Scotland surged by 16.9 per cent to a record high of £181,000. Average house prices increased over the year in England (as opposed to UK) to £281,000 (a 9.8 per cent annual increase), in Wales to 195,000 (12.5 per cent) and in Northern Ireland to 153,000 (nine per cent).
However, London’s average house price remained the highest of any region in the UK at an average of £526,000 – the highest on record, the ONS said.
The North had the highest annual house price growth in England, with average prices increasing by 13.3 per cent, though the region continued to have the lowest average house price at £149,000.
The largest increase in housing value has been in the South East of the UK, with a jump of £294 billion over the past five years, while the value just in London increased by £214 billion.
(The writer is our foreign correspondent based in the UK)
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