UK property prices increase by the day in April
Residential property asking prices have increased by their fastest rate in two years, up 0.8% in April, the fourth monthly increase in a row, according to the latest house price index from FindaProperty.
It means that the average asking price rose by £59 per day in April and the average property is now put up for sale for £220,281, the survey from the property website shows.
Asking prices have not risen faster than this since April 2009, when they jumped 1% in a single month.
‘The increase in asking prices is a promising development for vendors and we’d expect this to be reflected in sold prices when the data is released in the next two or three months,’ said Samantha Baden, property analyst at FindaProperty.
Last month’s increase is the second highest monthly price rise since FindaProperty.com’s index began in December 2007.
The average property in April 2011 was on the market for £220,281, up over £1,750 on the previous month, or almost £59 a day. This figure varies by region, with asking prices in London jumping by just under £500 in the month while in Scotland the increase was over £3,000.
In the past four months asking prices have picked up speed, rising 0.3% in January, 0.5% in February and 0.7% in March. Prices are also up 0.2% on April last year.
There were particularly big increases in Scotland, where asking prices rose 2.2%, and the North East of England, which saw a rise of 2%. The only region that saw asking prices fall was the North West, were there was a 0.1% dip.
Both houses and flats saw prices rise in April, with houses on the market for 0.9% more than the month before and flats on the market for 0.4% more. Meanwhile stock levels have also risen for the fourth consecutive month, up 2.3% in April.
‘We always expect there to be an increase in asking prices as we move into spring and early summer, when the bulk of house sales take place and vendors price their properties accordingly, but it looks like the market in 2011 is a bit healthier than it was this time last year,’ said Baden.
‘What’s particularly reassuring is that this house price growth is spread across almost all of the country, rather than just being concentrated in London and the South East. And the fact that prices are performing well even though additional stock is coming onto the market suggests that there is strong, pent up demand out there,’ she added.
Confidently all this means is that people will still borrow as much as they can, and stretch themselves financially, but end up with a slightly worse house?!
House prices rise through lack of supply. Houses are simply not being built as fast as people want to buy them. The only way that prices will crash is if house buyers can suddenly afford less (as happened when banks stopped lending so much in mortgages during the 2008 ‘crisis’ where house prices did drop a bit).
The only people who benefit from higher house prices are those working in the property sector; the house builders, developers and agents (whose job it is to get as high a price as they can for a house).