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Average UK house price exceeds £200,000
This article is an external press release originally published on the Landlord News website, which has now been migrated to the Just Landlords blog.
Unaffordability fears have heightened with the news that the average cost of a home in Britain has soared to over £200,000 for the first time.
According to the latest report from the Halifax, the growth in value of residential property rose for the fourth consecutive month in June to now stand at £200, 280. This means that property prices have grown higher than the £199,612 recorded during the economic boom in August 2007.[1]
Growth
The Halifax report shows that the annual growth rate has risen from 8.6% in the year to May, to 9.6% in the 12 months to June. This is the highest rate of inflation recorded since September 2014.[1]
‘House prices in the three months to June were 3.3% higher than in the preceding three months,’ noted Martin Ellis, the Halifax’s chief housing economist. ‘This measure of the underlying rate of house price growth picked up following two successive falls.’[1]
Ellis continued by saying, ‘supply remains very tight with the stock of homes available for sale currently at record low levels. This shortage has been a key factor maintaining house price growth at a robust pace so far in 2015.’ He feels that, ‘economic growth, higher employment, increasing real earnings growth and very low mortgage rates are all supporting housing demand with signs of a recent modest pick-up in demand.’[1]
Sales
Despite stock remaining low and with mortgage constraints hindering buying, the study also showed that the total number of homes sold increased during the last month by 1% to 98,540.[1]
What’s more, sales during the last quarter of the year were up 0.5% on the first three months, but were 4.2% down on the same time twelve months ago.
Across the country, house prices per square metre were found to have increased by 18% since 2010, from an average of £1,719 to £2,033 in 2015. Greater London has seen the fastest growth in Britain, with an average increase of 45%. The South East came next with a rise of 22%.[1]
Average UK house price exceeds £200,000
Stunning
Economist Howard Archer went as far to say that the Halifax report was, ‘a bit of a stunner.’ He continued by saying, ‘latest data and survey evidence indicate overall that housing market activity is on the up. Additionally, reduced uncertainty following May’s general election appears to have given a lift to buyer interest.’[1]
‘Nevertheless, the upside for housing market activity and prices is expected to be constrained by more stretched house price to earnings ratios, tighter checking of prospective mortgage borrowers by lenders and the likelihood that interest rates will start rising gradually from the first quarter of 2016,’ Archer added.[1]
[1] http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/property/11725547/House-prices-crash-through-the-200000-ceiling.html
