The data also shows that in the UK as a whole prices are up 9.4% year on year and 2.1% month on month, taking the average price of a house to £199,679.
Sales are also on the rise, up 18% year on year and 0.4% month on month and the number of first time buyer registrations continue to climb, up 22.4% on last year.
UK new buyer registrations increased 10.8% annually whereas supply of property drops 1.7% and the firm says that stamp duty needs to be urgently addressed before the next election as more Londoners are pushed into 3% stamp duty bracket.
‘London home owners will be forgiven for being astonished that they have seen an average £100,000 increase in equity over the last 12 months. In spite of London property prices breaking new records of over £500,000, up 9.4% annually, buyers are still coming to the market in numbers greater than last year,’ said Paul Smith, chief executive officer of haart.
He also pointed out that London new buyer registrations are up 11.7% annually with first time buyer registrations up 16.7% on last year. ‘However with more properties being pushed into the £500,000 price range more buyers will be bumped up into the 3% stamp duty tax band, the unfairness of this disproportionately South East focused tax must be addressed before the next election,’ he warned.
‘The way to put the brakes on price growth is to increase supply, but in London we have only seen new property instructions rise 0.2% annually and new properties for sale across the UK as a whole are down 1.7%. Home owners can help break this cycle by putting their property for sale before finding somewhere themselves thus freeing up supply,’ he added.
He also dismissed talk of a housing bubble bursting as while UK house prices are rising they have not recovered to their 2007 levels.
And Smith said that the new mortgage market rules do not appear to have dampened the market as prices are still rising and buyer interest high. ‘Stress tests are no bad thing and reassure both the lender and the buyer that the buyer’s income flow can support current and crucially future mortgage payments,’ he added.
