Propertymark comments on latest ONS house price index and rental price index

Nathan Emerson, the CEO of Propertymark, comments on the publication of the latest ONS house price index and rental price index.

On the ONS House Price Index, Emerson said: 

“Latest data from the ONS reports on the market in June, so it’s not surprising that an increase is again being seen in the average house price. As of this month however, for the first time since the recent hikes in prices, data has shown that the average is starting to decrease.

“Despite this slowing in the market, agents continue to report increases in the time taken to exchange, with our latest Housing Market Report showing that 41 per cent of sales took 17 weeks or more to go through, compared to just 10 per cent pre-pandemic.

“With interest rates rising, homebuyers, having secured a mortgage in principle at lower rates prior to even viewing any available properties, could well be starting to see them expire before exchanging. This could then have knock on effects on both fall throughs and affordability ratios.”

On the Index of Private Housing Rental Prices, Emerson added:

“Rises in rental prices are contributed to a series of reasons including inflation, but with a significant number of landlords across the UK only having one property, increasing tax burdens and recent legislation adding to the hundreds of existing regulatory pressures are causing their costs to rise.

“If the trend of small portfolio landlords leaving the sector continues, the losses to the private rented sector will be no small dent.

“A healthy mix of small and larger landlords has played a key part in the success of the private rented sector and supporting tenants to find homes, but without the investment and support needed by the UK Government, this trend is set to continue, and the imbalance of supply and demand will only continue to worsen.”

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