For the first time in history the average price of a property has broken the £200k mark. Although there has been a constant rise in house prices throughout the UK, there is still a large gap between the average prices in South compared to the North of the country, with figures from the Nationwide showing properties in the North are now less than half those in the South.
Property prices rose 0.8% in March to £200,251, according to the latest House Price Index from the Nationwide. However, the gap in price between the North and South properties has increased, nearly standing at £163,000.
House prices in Southern England (London, South West, East Anglia etc.) are showing strong growth of 9.9% year on year reaching averaging at just over £313k.
On an annual basis, prices have risen 5.7%.
According to, Nationwide’s chief economist, Robert Gardner “This is likely to have been driven, at least in part, by upcoming changes to stamp duty on second homes, where buyers have brought forward purchases in order to avoid the additional tax liabilities.”
Prices in the north took a fall of 1.1% and was actually the weakest performing region in the UK overall, with averages prices dropping to £123,864.
On the other end of the spectrum, the Outer Metropolitan area showed the strongest growth in quarter 1 of 2016, with average prices up 12.2% year on year and London following close behind, with an increase of 11.5%, a rare occurrence and only the 4th time in 5 years that London hasn’t recorded the strongest growth.
Wales also saw a slight rise of 1.7% year-on-year to an average of £141,525 and in Northern Ireland annual growth was up moderately by 1.8% to £123,225, however, this average is still 45% below the pre-crisis peak.
It’s difficult to say exactly how things will play out over the coming months with Stamp Duty now fully in play, however, with strong employment and increasing wages we may see prices continue to rise throughout 2016.
Some experts are surprised that the growth wasn’t higher, former RICS chairman Jeremy Leaf states, “The buy-to-let backlash has come about as the powers at be believe the sector to be running away with itself but the anticipated stampede to buy has not materialised.”
Leaf also said “The real test for the market will come in the next two months as many investors pause for breath to see if prices soften sufficiently to allow them to come back in. However, on the ground we are still seeing keen interest from landlords who simply intend to negotiate harder on the price they pay going forward.”
If you like any more information or guidance on the property market, feel free to get in touch with one of our experts at David Conway & Co. Call us today 020 8422 5222.
