New sellers increase prices by an average of 1.6%, some £3,687, to leave them 4.9% up over the first three months of 2012, the largest first quarter increase since 2004.
Regionally prices increased the most in East Anglia where they climbed 3.9%, followed by the South West up 2.5% and the East Midlands at 2.1%. Prices increased by 1.6% in Wales, by 1.5% in the South East, by 1.3% in London, by 1.2% in the North and the North West and by 0.2% in the West Midlands.
It shows that prices in London have hit a new all time high with the average asking price for a property in Kensington and Chelsea reaching £2,000,120.
In London the steepest price increase was in Wandsworth which saw average prices increase by 7.8% to £707,882, followed by Lambeth where they increased by 7.6% to £464,095. In Kensington and Chelsea prices increased by 5.9%, they were up 5.2% in Kingston Upon Thames and 4.5% in Harrow.
But the capital city has a two tier outlook with other boroughs seeing prices drop. Prices fell 4% in Hounslow to an average of 499,681, were down 1.8% in the City of Westminster, down 1.5% in Haringey, down 1.3% in Southwark and down 1% in Newham.
Search activity is up by 16% so far in 2012 compared to 2011 indicating growing confidence to move, Rightmove says.
Although it may be a setback for hard saving first time buyers, half of whom have now raised £15,000 to £40,000 deposit and may have to find an extra 1% with the end of the stamp duty holiday, it is good news for sellers.
The report says that early indicators suggest that property market activity in 2012 is on course to be more robust than in 2011 due to a continuing shortage of suitable stock and a jump of search activity.
But the recovery is likely to be patchy because transaction volumes remain low and the property market is very sensitive to external influence.
‘For a first time buyer it’s already hard enough to raise the necessary deposit and now, as well as potentially losing between £1,250 and £2,500 in stamp duty exemption, asking prices for their target property types have increased by over £5,000 in the last year as well,’ said Miles Shipside, director of Rightmove.
‘The stamp duty holiday was designed to promote activity in the moribund housing market, helping first time buyers to get onto the housing ladder, and as a consequence releasing others to climb up the rungs too. With some promising indicators of activity so far in 2012, there are finally some signs that this is playing an important role,’ he explained.
‘The recent launch of NewBuy may well counteract some elements of the removal of the stamp duty exemption. However, due to its focus on the new build sector, to support Government’s efforts to create jobs, this is of little consolation to those people looking to buy or sell on the resale market,’ he added.
