House Pricing Averages £308,000 As Well As Properties With Two Or Fewer Bedrooms Seeing £11,000 Surge In The Past Month
Lawyers at national law firm Irwin Mitchell say that the surge in house prices could be a backlash result of the rise in buy-to-let completions before the new stamp duty rule took place, as well as the new Help to Buy schemes.
According to property website Rightmove, the average price tag on a property coming to the market across England and Wales has increased by £1,118 month-on-month, and asking prices have jumped to a new record high of £308,151 on average in May.
The price increase comes despite a three per-cent point stamp duty increase for buy-to-let investors, which came into effect on 1 April 2016, and was thought to take heat out of the market.
Rightmove has said that the price of a home with two bedrooms or fewer has leapt by £11,298 over the last month alone to reach £194,224 on average.
There could be a conflict caused between buyers as ‘entry’ level homes are snapped up by both first-time buyers, as well as buy-to-let investors.
In the popular spot of Croydon, asking prices in the first-term buyer sector have surged by 18.6 per cent annually and now average £297,770, with a similar surge in Dartford where houses now stand for an average of £244,310.
Amongst all property types across the regions, asking prices in London and the East of England have seen double-digit growth over the last year.
Asking prices in London have seen a 10.8 per-cent annual increase, taking the average price in the capital to £644,088.
All regions have seen asking prices increase over the last year, with Wales seeing the smallest growth at 1.6 per cent. The average asking price in Wales is £181,579.
Helen Hutchison, Associate and Conveyancing Manager at Irwin Mitchell, said:
Expert Opinion
“Government initiatives targeting entry level homes affecting first-time buyers could be contributing to the rise with counteractive results.
“The pricing surge over the past month has been no surprise as we have seen a considerable increase in completions in March due to buy-to-let landlords wanting to complete their purchases before the stamp duty changes.
“This change may have been counteractive in an attempt to take heat from the market, as well as the government’s help to buy schemes. There are now more buyers with deposits trying to get on the market, alongside competition between banks to offer the best schemes, but only time will tell whether these initiatives have any true effect on the rise in pricing.”
Helen Hutchison - Partner & Chartered Legal Executive