Last month was the strongest March since 2007 for home sales, with 80,000 properties sold, according to Your Move’s house price index.
House price growth accelerated to 6.9 per cent annually - compared to 6.5 per cent in February - with a typical home now worth £18,745 more than a year earlier.
The London market also took off again, with fastest growth of any region, as house prices rose 8.2 per cent (£44,548) year-on-year.
House Price | Index | Monthly Change % | Annual Change % | Annual Change % (excluding London & SE) |
£291,650 | 286.2 | 0.6 | 6.9 | 5.1 |
Richard Sexton, director at e.surv chartered surveyors, put the spring surge down to the impending stamp duty hike.
“The surge was widespread across England and Wales, with a 30 per cent upswing in transactions since February. This goes beyond any normal seasonality, with second-home and buy-to-let investors rushing to beat a bigger tax bill.”
He continued that a pervasive shortage of homes on the market is still driving up values, as buyers have to compete for each available property. “If they are going to make it easier to get a foot on the property ladder, the government will have to double-down on its help to first-time buyers, or let up on landlords.”
E.surv’s mortgage monitor added an average 71,710 of house purchase loans were granted across the first three months of 2016, the highest opening quarter total since 2007 – which saw 116,898 granted.
However, March saw a monthly dip in lending, as some landlords were too late to beat the stamp duty surcharges coming into effect on the 1 April. The month saw 67,173 overall house purchase approvals (seasonally adjusted) – 9.1 per cent lower than the 73,871 seen in February.
To date, a total of 210,468 house purchase approvals have been granted this year, 13.5 per cent higher than 185,356 in the first three months of 2015. House purchase lending has also risen annually – up 8.2 per cent from 62,095 loans granted in March last year.
Meanwhile confidence in the UK housing market is at its lowest level in over a year, according to the latest quarterly Halifax research. The latest fall confirms a downward trend since a high point in May 2015 and comes as consumers feel increasingly uncertain about the wider economy.
Despite this, a clear majority of people (65 per cent) still believe that average UK property prices will be higher rather than lower 12 months from now, double the 32 per cent found when the tracker was launched five years ago.
The proportion of people who think the average UK house price will be at least 10 per cent higher in 12 months’ time remains unchanged since December, at 13 per cent. However, the proportion who are unsure of the direction that house prices will go has risen six points, the first time it has hit double figures (13 per cent) since spring 2013, suggesting there is growing uncertainty around the property market.
