UK House Prices Hit a Record High in Q1

Property prices in the UK have hit record levels for the third month in a row of £360,101 according to an Index.

While prices continue to rise, this has not caused a slowdown in the purchasing market. Houses are in fact selling faster than ever, twice as fast as they differ in 2019 according to Rightmove’s House Price Index.

House prices in the UK have hit a new record high for the third month in a row of £360,101, twice as quickly as they did in 2019, Rightmove’s house price index shows.

Additionally, month-on-month property prices have risen by an average of 1.6%, £5,537. Over the last three months this has translated as a £19,082 increase – the largest three-month price increase that the Index has ever recorded.

The Index reported that new houses on the market are now taking an average of 33 days to sell. This is a stark contrast to 2019, where the average selling time took around 67 days. This means that 53% of properties sold are either selling at or above their final advertised asking price.

Rightmove’s Index found that UK properties on the market are reaching an average of 98.9% of the final advertised asking price. This is the highest percentage on record.

Rightmove’s Director of Property Data, Tim Bannister said that “With three new monthly price records in a row, 2022 has started with price-rise momentum even greater than during the stamp-duty-holiday-fuelled market of last year. While growing affordability constraints mean that this momentum is not sustainable for the longer term, the high demand from a large number of buyers chasing too few properties for sale has led to a spring price frenzy, a hat-trick of record price months, and the largest price increase for a three-month period Rightmove has ever recorded.”

Furthermore, Halifax told the Guardian that house prices are continuing to climb despite growing cost of living pressures and rising food and energy bills. This is because demand for properties has continued to outstrip supply. It also highlights the potential to make home improvements, whereas this could dramatically increase the price of your home without facing the higher cost of moving.

This trend is being seen across all property market sectors in the UK. For instance, in Scotland, house prices have increased by 2.2% month-on-month to £182,310. Properties in the region now typically take 22 days on average to sell.

Furthermore, in Wales, house prices have increased by 2.7% to an average of £252,736, taking approximately 32 days to sell.

London continues to stand as the most expensive area for property, with house prices increasing to an average of £677,111, and taking 51 days to sell.

Further, prospective property buyers are certainly being welcomed with greater choice, with the number of properties coming onto the market increasing by 7% compared to this period last year. However, this still does remain lower than 2019, a fall of 11%.

It is worth noting however that prices vary across the 32 London boroughs. Barking and Dagenham’s average property price of £365,907 makes it the cheapest borough to buy, and Kensington and Chelsea’s £1.7 million average price makes it the most expensive London borough.