Strong buyer demand and brisk transaction volumes during March combined to push the average UK home’s asking price up by 1.5%, according to Rightmove.
Strong buyer demand and brisk transaction volumes during March combined to push the average UK home’s asking price up by 1.5%, according to Rightmove. This was significantly higher than the historical March average of 1% and the biggest monthly increase for 10 months.
"Since lenders decided to slash rates, we’ve seen first-time buyers popping up like daffodils in spring"
Jake Stott, founder of broker Mondo Mortgages, said the Nationwide data “highlights the optimism that is emerging after a turbulent 2023”. He added: “Since lenders decided to slash rates right from the start of the month, we’ve seen first-time buyers popping up like daffodils in spring.”
Halifax’s data was also very optimistic, showing a 1.3% uplift between December and January, marking the fourth consecutive monthly rise. Kim Kinnaird, the director at Halifax Mortgages, said: “The recent reduction of mortgage rates from lenders as competition picks up, alongside fading inflationary pressures and a still-resilient labour market has contributed to increased confidence among buyers and sellers. This has resulted in a positive start to 2024’s housing market.”
These figures offer further indications that the UK property market is strengthening as mortgage rates ease – the latest expectation is that the Bank of England will start cutting interest rates in 2024 on the back of a series of promising inflation data. The consultancy Capital Economics now predicts that the base rate will fall as low as 3% by the end of 2025. Data released at the end of February by Zoopla showed both buyers and sellers returning to the property market in droves – all the platform’s metrics of activity were higher than in February 2023, with agreed sales up by 15% and buyer demand up by 11%.
International property company JLL has said it expects Greater London house prices to increase by 22% over the next 5-years, beating nationwide UK growth predictions of 20% over the same time span. The firm added that within those headline figures, it expected lower value markets to see stronger growth towards the beginning of the period, with more expensive markets like London and the South East outperforming in the second half.
September has seen the fastest annual house price growth in around two years, according to Nationwide’s latest index, with average London house prices hitting £524,685.
The September data from online portal Zoopla showed that UK property sales volumes were at their highest level since pandemic restrictions were lifted in 2020.