It’s been a somewhat rollercoaster of a year, depending on how you look at 2016. We’ve had Brexit, the new Prime Minister, the Rio Olympics, Donald Trump… One thing for certain however is that despite the surprising twists and turns this year has brought, house prices have been in our favour and have increased.
In fact, house prices have risen by 7.7% in the past year, making the average home £16,000 more expensive than a year ago. The fastest-growing regions were the east of England, London and the South East. House prices in the east of England, including areas from Hertfordshire to Norfolk, rose by 12.1%, making it the fastest-rising region.
Demand for UK property and growing confidence in the property market means the average UK house price is now £218,000.
The increase in value is also present as we see higher numbers of people venturing from London into other regions looking to see a higher return on their investment. London house prices are currently double the national average - rising by 10.9% in the 12 months to September to £487,000. The more affordable areas of London are now experiencing the biggest rises as more and more get priced out of the centre.
Richard Snook, Senior Economist at PwC, believes the figures reveal the resilience of the UK housing market in the face of Brexit, commenting: “We now have three months of post-Brexit official housing figures, which show price growth remaining robust.”
“At the start of the year, we expected slower house price growth, but in fact it has shown impressive resilience: in the first three quarters of the year average annual house prices were up by around 8% across the UK compared to the same period last year,” he explained.
