Homes in the second highest price band of £250,000 to £500,000 increased by 16%. This is the highest level since 2010 for both price bands.
The data also shows that in the second quarter of 2014 homes worth more than £250,000 made up 41% of all the homes that entered the market for sale compared to 37% in the same quarter of 2013.
Overall, the number of properties to enter the market for sale between April and June 2014, increased by 9.6% compared to the same period in 201 and this rise was led by the North East region which saw the number of houses coming to the market for sale increase by 25.6%.
The only area in the UK that witnessed a fall in numbers was the East of England, which found the number of homes coming on to the sales market decreased slightly by 2.6%.
The rise in the over £500,000 was, led by the London region with an increase of 50.7%. This was followed by the Outer Metropolitan and South West areas.
The West Midlands appeared among the areas to see the highest increase in properties with more than £500,000 coming onto the market for sale with a rise of 25.5% and the North East continued to see the most affordable properties worth less than £100,000 entering the market with a rise of 33.6%.
The rental market, which had been seeing a steady growth each quarter, saw fewer newly advertised properties coming onto the market for rent, down 4.3% across the UK compared to the second quarter of 2013.
The fall was led mainly by the Outer Metropolitan and South East areas which were down 10.5% and 8.8% respectively. The North East and Wales were the only areas to continue to see a growth in rental properties, up 4.3% and 1.8%.
‘The growth in houses prices suggests that home owners may have made reasonable capital gains on their existing properties, especially as they seek to move up the property ladder,’ said Jonathan Westley, managing director of Consumer Information Services at Experian UK and Ireland.
‘Our latest index shows that higher end properties now form a greater proportion of properties appearing for sale, implying it is now second or third time buyers, who are more active in the housing market. But, 59% of all properties across the UK were still valued at less than £250,000 so there are opportunities for those with smaller budgets,’ he explained.
‘The challenge for people wanting to secure a mortgage is showing themselves in the best possible light to lenders, i.e. applicants who can afford the long term commitment, especially with an interest rate rise looming. Lenders have just as an important role to play ensuring they are not making decisions that could see a person fall into debt in the future,’ he pointed out.
‘The more information they can source to fully understand a person’s individual circumstances, such as property information, the fairer the decision they can make about granting a mortgage,’ he added.
