Its report says that prices are now rising faster than at any time during the last property boom and the Greater London home market still tops the regional rankings with an 18.9% year on year increase.
Also the typical time a property spends on the market before being sold has decreased significantly to 96 days, some 34 days less than in April 2013. And the supply of properties for sale is down 12% year on year and down 48% since March 2008.
The report suggest that government initiatives such as Help to Buy are firing demand and an unprecedented low supply is combining to drive prices inexorably higher. The annual rate of increase, currently 8.4%, is now higher than at any period prior to the financial crisis as measured by the firm’s index.
But it is not universal nationwide. Sub inflation price rises are still being observed in the North East, the North West, Yorkshire and Wales. The key markets that are driving the national average so much higher are London, the South East and East Anglia. But in Scotland asking prices remain unchanged since this time last year.
The South East saw asking prices rise 1.8%, East Anglia by 2.2% and the South West by 1.7%, all of which outpaced the rise in London which was 1.2%. All the English regions, Scotland and Wales registered a drop in marketing times over the last month but this is to be expected at this time of year.
Moreover, typical marketing times are also lower year on year in all the English regions and Scotland, indicating improved market conditions even in the northern regions. Wales, however, showed a small increase in the typical marketing time at 179 days, some four days higher than in April 2013.
The most active English regions by far are Greater London, the South East, East Anglia, the South West and East Midlands, with typical marketing times of 47, 59, 69, 83 and 86 days respectively. All five top performing regions have significantly lower marketing times than at this time last year, and this suggests that further strong price growth will continue.
More price growth is to come, according to the firm’s director Doug Shephard, who even predicts that the current key economic drivers for the housing market such as ultra low interest rates, government buyer schemes, buy to let and shortage of supply, suggest that this boom may well be much bigger than any previously.
The report suggests that as the property boom spreads out from London, East Anglia is the latest region to feel the impact of the supply demand imbalance. A monthly rise of 2.2% outpaced all other regions and asking prices are rising in the region at an annualised rate of 7.2%, which is well ahead of the latest RPI inflation figure of 2.7%.
The average home in East Anglia rose by around £6,000 last month to attain a new all time high of £271,036. Over the last five years, the mix adjusted average price of a home in East Anglia has risen by 13.7%, meaning that more than half of that rise was achieved in the last year alone.
Also, the typical time on market in East Anglia has plummeted to just 69 days, which is 18 days less than in April 2013. The report says that rising demand and falling supply means there are 24% less properties for sale in the region than at this time last year and this will ensure that prices keep on rising swiftly.
‘Overall, the property market continues to race ahead of many people's expectations. Momentum is picking up in more and more regions as confidence and optimism grow. First time buyers, the lifeblood of the industry, are getting a helping hand and this, in turn, is getting the slower markets moving,’ said Shephard.
But he suggested that concerns may be raised over the best performing markets. ‘Over heating regional property markets present structural risk and imbalance to the UK economy. The UK property market is increasingly bipolar. The clear and present danger is that, judging by current trends, the more prosperous regional property markets will be close to bust before the northern regions and Wales show significant growth, especially the North East,’ added Shephard.
