There is further evidence of an upturn in the property market as another house price index revealed strong growth in house prices at the end of last year.
According to the Land Registry, prices soared annually by 2.2% in November taking the average house price to £235,298 in the UK.
Between October and November 2019, prices went up by 0.4% and Wales experienced record annual growth driven by the sale of more expensive properties in the ‘busy’ markets of Cardiff and Newport.
These figures come a week after Halifax revealed a 4% annual price rise in its index for December, something property experts were attributing to greater certainty surrounding Brexit and the economy following the general election.
Indeed, in response to today’s figures, David Westgate, group chief executive of Andrews Property Group, said a ‘growing indifference’ to Brexit began manifesting amongst the public in November.
“A lot of people were fed up with the noise of Brexit and politics in general and decided to get on with their lives,” he said.
“There will naturally be a number of caveats surrounding the November data in light of the general election but overall the market put in a strong performance in what was a highly uncertain environment.”
London remains slow
In the capital, where prices have been falling recently, the Land Registry’s figures showed a 0.5% drop between October and November. However, annually, there was a slight rise of 0.2% taking the average property price in London to £475,458.
The East of England the South West as well as Yorkshire and the Humber also saw monthly decreases but the East and West Midlands experienced healthy growth of 1.1% and 1.7% respectively. In Wales, prices went up by 7.8% over the year.
‘Positive’ news
Miles Robinson, head of mortgages at online mortgage broker, Trussle, thought the figures were positive for both buyers and sellers, particularly as they followed a period of uncertainty.
“Those who may have been holding off from buying or selling their home, could finally be putting their property plans in motion,” he said.
“There are currently conditions in place for the housing market to prosper amid low-interest rates, fuelling competitive mortgage deals, and increasing demand from would-be buyers. However, this could put more pressure on first-time buyers in the short term as prices continue to rise.”
Laughable.
Land registered prices across UK rose just 2.2% and it is described as ‘soaring’…??
Given that LR figures take no account of ‘home improvements’ or reburbishments, an industry worth £billions?
The rise is nominal at best.
The London ‘increase of 0.2% is a fall in real terms and and just a small blip in the longer (meduim) trend, as mortgage lending is more than 10% down year-on-year (Re-mortgaging even more down)
And having ‘professionals’ with a vested interest in supporting property values and maintaining interest in the market are not really worth having, turkeys don’t vote for Xmas….