November marked the fifth consecutive monthly UK house price rise and the biggest leap so far this year, according to Halifax. The mortgage lender said property values were up 1.3% compared with October.
We expect positive price growth this year – in a climate of falling mortgage rates, improving affordability and the release of some pent-up demand. Rightmove reported that first-time buyer demand in the capital in September 2024 was 28% ahead of 2023, moving up to 31% after the autumn budget.
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.
The latest inflation figures from September showed a surprise drop to 1.7% – the first time since April 2021 that inflation has dipped below the Bank of England’s target of 2%.
On 1 August, the Bank of England reduced the base rate to 5% as predicted by most analysts. The impact on buyer confidence is already clear, with more buyers entering the market over the summer and analysts looking ahead to a busy autumn.
Recent data from Hamptons showed that falling mortgage rates are attracting first-time buyers back to the capital – this group has purchased a record 48% of homes sold in London so far this year, up from 41% in 2023 and 28% a decade ago.
UK house prices rose by 0.7% in September, boosting the annual growth rate from 2.4% in August to 3.2% in September—the fastest pace recorded since November 2022 (4.4%). Average prices are now just 2% below the all-time highs of summer 2022.
The latest data from the Office of National Statistics showed property prices in London increasing in May, with the average price hitting £523,376.
At the end of July, Nationwide released a five-year fixed rate mortgage priced at 3.99%, marking the first time the mortgage market has seen a sub-4% deal since February.
The latest analysis of the prime London property market from estate agent Savills celebrates the resilience of prime London prices in the run-up to the general election and predicts a stronger performance in the second half of the year now that “most uncertainty is behind us”. In the Prime Outer London neighbourhoods that London Richmond invests in – including Battersea, Wimbledon and Chiswick – a continued supply-and-demand imbalance for family houses has supported values.
London now has the fastest rising property prices in the south of England, according to the latest figures from lender Nationwide. Prices in the capital rose by 1.6% in the first quarter of the year. Meanwhile data from estate agent Hamptons shows that a home in London is now more likely to sell above its asking price than elsewhere in England and Wales, providing further evidence of growing confidence in the capital’s housing market.
On 22 May, the government announced that the next general election has been set for 4 July. Industry leaders have broadly welcomed the announcement as an opportunity to provide greater certainty for UK businesses, workers and investors.
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.
Recent research from the Resolution Foundation has shown that services now account for a record share of Britain’s total exports – with London by far the biggest driver of the boom.
The average British house price reached a record high of £375,131 in May, according to Rightmove. Asking prices of properties coming to market rose 0.8% month on month thanks to pent-up demand from buyers who had paused their plans last year.
The first month of the new year has seen Halifax, the UK’s biggest lender, cut interest rates by close to a whole percentage point. Interest on their two-year fix was cut by 0.83%, with HSBC swiftly following suit by introducing new deals including a five-year fix at 3.94%.
National house prices rose by 2.9% in the final three months of 2023 according to the Halifax house price index, confounding the media’s expectations who continue to promote the false idea that the property market is not as strong as we know it is.
The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors reported last week that its measure of forecasted sales for the next three months had risen to 6 in November, up from -17 in October and the first positive reading it has offered since April 2022.
The Office of National Statistics’ recently revised methodology for calculating rental price growth shows that increases have been even stronger than previously thought. In the capital, year-on-year rental growth hit 10% in October 2023, compared with a previous estimate of 6.8%.
Building society Nationwide announced recently that UK house prices had increased by 0.9% between September and October thanks to scarcity of supply and a strong labour market. Robert Gardner, Chief Economist at Nationwide, said the rise probably reflected the “constrained” supply of properties on the market, adding that there was “little sign of forced selling, which would exert downward pressure on prices, as labour market conditions are solid and mortgage arrears are at historically low levels".
There is growing confidence amongst mortgage brokers that we will see the return of sub-4% mortgage rates before summer 2024, following the Bank of England’s decision to once again maintain the base rate of interest at 5.25%.
Savills reports that the market for London’s most expensive homes has remained strong this year, highlighting the resilience of wealthy cash buyers.