This article is an external press release originally published on the Landlord News website, which has now been migrated to the Just Landlords blog.
UK house prices rose by 5.2% in the year to August 2015, according to the latest House Price Index from the Office for National Statistics.
This figure was unchanged from the rate of increase seen in July.
Inflation
According to the report, annual house price inflation was 5.6% in England, 0.8% in Wales, 2.9% in Northern Ireland and -0.9% in Scotland. House price rises in England were driven by annual increases in the East of 8.8% and the South East of 7.4%.[1]
With the exception of London and the South East, UK house prices rose by 4.8% in the year to August of this year. When seasonally adjusted, average house prices increased by 0.7% between July and August.
In addition, the Index showed that first-time buyers paid 3.8% more for property than in August 2014. Existing owner-occupiers saw prices increase by 5.8% over the same period.[1]
Adrian Gill. Director of Reeds Rains and Your Move estate agents, notes, ‘the speed of house price growth across England and Wales may not be setting the world alight, but it’s certainly showing it has stamina-and continues to outdo rises in wages and consumer prices.’[1]
Rises
Paul Smith, CEO at haart estate agents, said that the data, ‘shows current occupiers have seen a near 6% annual increase in the value of their home on average. Based on the price of an average home according to our data, this amounts to about £12,700-or around half the average annual salary.’ He continued by stating, ‘while buyers may be tempted to hang onto their current property in the hope that the equity will increase further, for those upsizing the incremental increase in price on their next home will be even more substantial.’[1]
House prices rise by 5.2% in August
Smith also said that, ‘we are currently seeing a back-log in the supply of new homes and the mix of stock out there is not currently fulfilling the needs of the population. If people see that it may actually be disadvantageous to hold out on selling-up and moving on in the hope that house prices will increase further, we may see more home suitable for first-time buyers coming onto the market.’[1]
Healthy
Lora Roberts, portfolio manager at estate agent Ascend Properties noted that despite, ‘seemingly bleak figures on paper, both the sales and rentals markets are in good health.’[1]
‘On the surface, news that prices paid by first-time buyers are up 3.8% on the same day that inflation has been announced as turning negative again might appear bleak on paper but the reality is that we are seeing a healthy and fluid market across both sales and lettings. We are seeing signs of increased confidence across the board, with enquiries up for both segments of the market,’ Roberts concluded.[1]
[1] http://www.propertyreporter.co.uk/property/house-prices-gain-52-say-ons.html
