Over the past five years, the average price paid by home movers in the UK has grown by 32% and the cost of moving has jumped 4% since last year, the latest research shows.
The research from Lloyds Bank also shows that deposits have increased by 22% over the last five years with those in London putting down more than £200,000.
However, the number of people moving home has increased for the first time in three years in the first half of 2019 when there were 160,540 movers, up by 810 or 1% compared with the same period in 2018.
Home movers are still behind first time buyers whose numbers increased at a slightly higher rate of 7,460 or 5% to 173,790 in the first half of 2019. Regionally, the North, South East and Scotland are seeing falls of between 0.3% and 1.9% in the numbers of home movers year on year.
In 2019, four regions have seen increases in the numbers of home movers by over 2% with the North West up 2% to 15,979, the West Midlands up 2.6% to 13,634, and Northern Ireland up 2.5% to 3,280.
The data also shows that the South East has the highest number of home movers in the UK at 36,316 but this has dipped slightly by 0.9% over the last year and is 9.5% below its 2014 high of 40,120.
Over the past five years, the average price paid by home movers has grown substantially by £79,627 or 32% to £329,648. The South East has seen the highest growth at 43% from £137,376 to £460,395 followed by East Anglia up 41%, Greater London up 37%, and the North West and East Midlands both up 36%.
London remains the most expensive home mover region, almost twice the UK average of £329,648 at £650,510. The least expensive home mover region is Northern Ireland with an average price of £189,905.
Deposits remain at record highs of over £100,000 for the third consecutive year at £105,260 and the report says that the amount of deposit or existing equity required has increased by 22% over the past five years from £86,398 in 2014 to £105,260 in 2019.
In London the deposit required has increased to £213,907, over £200,000 for the first time, which represents an increase of 26% over the past five years. The next largest deposit amount is in the South East at £150,970 followed by South West at £117,298 and East Anglia at £110,207.
All other regions have deposits at less than £100,000 and Northern Ireland has the lowest deposit required at £56,763 but has seen the biggest increase over the past five years at 52%.
‘The home mover market has seen some positive movement in the first half of this year, but first time buyers are still dominant in driving housing activity, helping to keep movement along the property ladder,’ said Andrew Bickers, mortgages director at Lloyds Bank.
‘The slow rate of home movers is a reflection of growing deposits, higher stamp duty charges and potential interest rate rises. The perfect next homes are also becoming less available, such those with an extra bedroom and outdoor space which is all in the mix when it comes to the number of movers we are seeing,’ he added.
