Taylor Scott International News
The average asking price of a home in England and Wales has surpassed £300,000 for the first time as demand soars and supply remains tight, the latest index figures show. New homes put on the market averaged £303,190 this month, up 1.3% on the previous month and up 7.6% compared to the same month a year ago, according to the data from Rightmove. The property portal’s monthly report says that the challenges facing both first time buyers and those trading up are highlighted by a 50% increase in just 10 years which means that new seller asking prices have increased by £100,000 since March 2006. And the 1.3% price jump in March at £3,903 is the second highest at this time of year since the 2008 credit crunch with the price growth momentum spreading north and west with six out of 10 regions setting record price highs this month. The data also shows that London no longer leads the growth with prices standing still as an average asking value of £644,045 but they are up 11% year on year. ‘While the start of 2016 has seen an encouraging but modest uptick in the number of properties coming to market, demand and momentum have combined to push prices over £300,000,’ said Miles Shipside, Rightmove director and housing market analyst. ‘On average 30,000 properties have come to market each week over the past month, up by 3% on this time last year, but there are insufficient numbers of newly listed properties in many parts of the country to meet demand,’ he explained. ‘The rebound from the housing market downturn has been driven by underlying demand, greater availability mortgage lending, and the economic recovery. The release of this pent-up demand and the shortfall in housing supply are resulting in insufficient availability of affordable stock in many locations,’ he pointed out. Shipside said that the result is that more first time buyers and would-be trader uppers are finding themselves ill-equipped to cope with current house prices given the tighter lending criteria and average earnings lagging well behind house price growth. A breakdown of the figures shows that asking prices monthly growth was led by the South West taking the average to £292,251 and up 6.8% year on year, followed by the West Midlands with monthly growth of 2.5% to £204,140 and annual growth of 5.5%. This was followed closely by the North East with monthly growth of 2.4% to £148,484 and annual growth of £3.7% while Yorkshire and Humber saw month on month growth of 1.9% to £173,947 and year on year growth of 3.2%. The South East saw monthly growth of 1.8% to £399,680 and annual growth of 8.1%, the East of England monthly growth of 1.6% and annual growth of 9.7% to an average of £326,836 and the East Midlands and Wales both saw monthly growth of 1.4% taking the average asking price to £189,819 and £174,046 respectively. Shipside pointed out that three out of the top four… Taylor Scott International
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