The average house price in England and Wales now stands at £186,553 following a year-on-year increase of 5.3 per cent, according to the latest Land Registry Index.
The September data showed a monthly price increase of 1 per cent since August, while London house prices saw a monthly increase of 1.8 per cent.
The average London house price is now £499,997 - up 9.6 per cent annually - while the North East saw the only annual price decrease, of 0.3 per cent.
The number of property transactions has decreased over the last year. From April 2014 to July 2014 there was an average of 78,330 sales per month, while during the same months a year later, the figure was 71,766.
Stephen Smith, director of Legal and General’s Mortgage Club, said that a greater availability of mortgages due to low rates, low inflation and increasing wages, has stimulated an increase in demand in the market.
“This would be good news if there were enough housing available for people to buy, unfortunately, however, this is not the case. The lack of properties coming on to the market is making the process of buying a home more competitive, which is in turn pushing up prices beyond the level of inflation and limiting the amount of choice for those looking to buy.”
Jonathan Adams, director of prime central London estate agency Napier Watt, suggested that the decrease in the number of property transactions suggests that the market is perhaps not as healthy as it could be.
“The breakdown of transactions by price range is revealing, highlighting a fragmented market in London with higher-value properties struggling to sell,” he stated, citing the 288 £2m-plus purchases in July 2015, compared with 370 in the same month last year.
“But in the £1m to £1.5m range the number of transactions rose from 821 in July last year to 840 this year, underlining the impact the increase in stamp duty on purchases over £2m has had on the market.”
peter.walker@ft.com
