Price of average UK house now surpasses 2016’s record high

The average UK house price is now £313,655, having risen by 1.1% month-on-month in April, according to the latest house price index from Rightmove.

The property website’s index has revealed that average asking prices rose £3,547 from March, and have now beaten the last house price peak of £310,471 seen in June 2016.

Rightmove found that prices have risen 2.2% on an annual basis and that houses are changing hands more frequently now than at any point since the financial crisis.

A lot of activity is being seen in the first-time buyer market, which has pushed prices up in this area by 6.5% annually, to a new record of £194,881 on average, the index shows.

As the country enters the run up to another election, a statement from Rightmove notes that “…this strong set of figures should help mitigate pre-election jitters.”

Rightmove director and housing market analyst Miles Shipside expanded further:

“High buyer demand in most parts of the country has helped to propel the price of newly marketed property to record highs.

“There are signs of a strong spring market with the number of sales agreed achieved at this time of year being the highest since 2007. It remains to be seen what effect the run-up to the snap election will have, though any slowdown in activity will be counter-balanced by the market’s current fast pace.”

However, London and the North East of England bucked the trend, as prices fell in these two regions over the last year.  Asking prices in the capital were down 1.5% to £636,777, while in the north-east they slipped 0.7% to an average of £150,350.

 

ANY PROPERTY USED AS SECURITY, WHICH MAY INCLUDE YOUR HOME, MAY BE REPOSSESSED IF YOU DO NOT KEEP UP REPAYMENTS ON YOUR MORTGAGE. 

 

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24th April 2017