Houses price rise

The most robust three-month growth for house prices in 15 years was registered in November — boosted by demand for a limited supply of housing stock, low mortgage rates and a strong labour market.

London annual house price growth was only 1 per cent last month, in contrast with a 15 per cent rise in Wales and 10 per cent in Northern Ireland.

“The performance of the market continues to be underpinned by a shortage of available properties, a strong labour market and keen competition among mortgage providers keeping rates close to historic lows,” said Russell Galley, managing director at Halifax.

Since the onset of the pandemic in March 2020 and the UK first entering lockdown, house prices have risen by £34,000, which equates to £1,700 per month.

Nationally, average property prices rose sharply despite continued weakness in the London housing market, as people in the capital looked to move to more prominent places, driven partly by the shift to homeworking.

According to the mortgage provider Halifax, the average price of a UK property hit a record high of £273,000 last month.

In the three months to November, house prices registered a 3.4 per cent increase compared with the previous quarter, the fastest pace since 2006. As a result, buying a property in Wales has never been so expensive, with the average house price breaking through the £200,000 barrier for the first time since records began.

The Halifax figures showed the pandemic housing market boom has stretched beyond the stamp duty holiday, introduced in July 2020 after the first Covid-19 lockdown. The value of homes rose 1 per cent from October, 8.2 per cent higher than in the same period last year.

Summarised www.sba.tax

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