The monthly report from property firm Homes.co.uk shows that prices in Greater London continue to outperform the rest of the UK. They were up another 1.1% on last month, equating to a 2.8% rise in 2013 alone.
It also showed that after five months of price falls, prices in the North West finally stabilised this month and across England and Wales the average asking price has risen by almost 3% during the past 12 months.
So far, the expected Spring market boost is only translating into price gains in the Southern regions. Whilst the Northern regions are indeed showing evidence of price stabilisation, it is London and its adjacent regions that are pushing the national average asking price up.
The firm says that this positive price trend looks set to continue into 2013 supported by falling marketing times which will be welcome news to vendors across the country, but especially so in the South.
Regions adjacent to London also continue to record price growth with the South East up 0.5% and East Anglia up 0.8% on last month. At the other end of the performance scale, average asking prices in the North West, North East, Wales and Scotland remained frozen but not falling.
Whilst prices did not fall, the average prices in the North West were identical to last month and the other regions struggled to record a rise in prices above 0.2%. The Midlands and Yorkshire markets are beginning to look healthier with monthly rises of between 0.5% and 0.6% respectively.
It also shows that the supply of sales properties to market is seriously down across the UK with a fall 10.6% year on year. All English regions, Scotland and Wales are affected with the North East and Greater London suffering most with drops of 28% and 19% respectively last month compared with February 2012.
On the upside, restricted supply serves to support prices. A total of 51,336 properties across the country were reduced in price in February 2013 which is 19% fewer than in February 2012.
The average time on market for unsold property in England and Wales has fallen since last month in line with seasonal expectations and is now 11 days less than in March 2012. There is a direct relationship between a region’s price performance and the time on market. For example, average time on market in London is 151 days compared to 332 in the North East.
‘London continues to race ahead of the market with price rises of more than twice the rate of the national average. Government stimulus money appears to be only affecting the capital and, albeit to a lesser extent, the surrounding regions,’ said Doug Shephard, director at Home.co.uk.
‘Meanwhile austerity measures are making the housing market in the far North stagnate. Whilst it is welcome news that prices in these regions did not fall further last month, the issues of affordability and low consumer confidence remain, undoubtedly keeping prices in check over the comings months,’ he explained.
‘Clearly a lot needs to change to rectify the North/South economic imbalance. It would appear far from fair that the North must suffer the brunt of austerity measures whilst Greater London and its commuter belt enjoys the benefits of government support for the financial sector,’ he added.
