Higher prices continue to be driven by vast numbers of buyers, according to ONS House Price Index

Nick Leeming, Chairman of Jackson-Stops, comments on the finding that higher prices continue to be driven by vast numbers of buyers, according to ONS House Price Index.

Chief points from ONS House Price Index:
  • UK average house prices increased by 7.5% over the year to January 2021, down from 8.0% in December 2020
  • Average house prices increased over the year in England to £267,000 (7.5%), in Wales to £179,000 (9.6%), in Scotland to £164,000 (6.9%) and in – Northern Ireland to £148,000 (5.3%)
  • The North West was the English region which saw the highest annual growth in average house prices (12.0%), while the West Midlands saw the lowest (4.7%)

The property market continued to boom in January. House prices grew rapidly as buyers paid on average more than £17,000 for homes than they were the same time last year.

Higher prices continue to be driven by vast numbers of buyers who are looking to snap up stock due to a whole host of lockdown-incentivised lifestyle reasons, coupled with buyers rushing to beat the original stamp duty deadline in March. This created a huge gap in the supply of new property available and demand from buyers. In January, Jackson-Stops data showed that 16 buyers were chasing every newly listed property across the UK.

“While all parts of the UK experienced growth of about 7.5%, the North-West and Yorkshire continue to outperform the rest of the country. This chimes with our own branch activity which saw our Alderley Edge and Chester branches perform particularly well on the month.

“With interest rates remaining historically low, lenders easing criteria, and a bottleneck of interested buyers, conditions are ripe for vendors. With lockdown easing, we can expect the market to start balancing out over the coming months, as supply creeps up to match demand. I’d urge those considering listing their home to act now while conditions remain so strongly in their favour.”

 

Kindly shared by Jackson-Stops

Main photo courtesy of Pixabay