The average home was sold for £285k in March, £3k lower than just a month before, but £11k more than the same month a year earlier
The price of an average home in the UK increased 4.1 per cent in the year to March, but declined compared to the month prior, latest figures showed on Wednesday.
Official data show that the average home was sold for £285k in March, £3k lower than just a month before, but £11k more than the same month a year earlier.
It is also £8k lower than the recent peak price in November 2022, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said on Wednesday.
The average price in England was £304k, 4.1 per cent higher over the year. In Wales it was £214k, 4.8 per cent higher, while prices increased 3 per cent to £185k in Scotland and 5 per cent to £172k in NI.
In England, the highest annual rise was seen in the South West, 5.4 per cent higher, while house prices in London only increased 1.5 per cent.
The increase in annual price is a significant drop from July 2022 when the cost of a property had surged 14.4 per cent in just 12 months.
The Office for National Statistics stated that there had been around 89,560 residential house purchases in the past month, around 19 per cent lesser than a year before, but up marginally by 1.3 per cent from February.
Increasing interest rates and economic stress have not come in the way of many buyers or sellers’ aspirations as the housing market demonstrates durability and house prices increase in March, stated Emma Cox, MD of real estate at Shawbrook Bank.
Reports that the economic outlook is not as weak as predicted earlier, has evoked a return in confidence and demand, she said.
And while buyers are likely to stay comparatively wary moving forwards, as mortgage rates continue to be high in line with increasing interest rates, it is inspiring to see these indications of hope back in the market, she said.
Cox said: The well-documented lack of supply within the rental market, could enable professional landlords to snap up properties and extend their rental portfolios before any further price increases.
She said: This should help to provide a boost of quality stock, with demand presently being starved of good, available properties for renters.
