Property prices continue to rise

The latest Halifax House Price Index revealed that house prices are continuing to rise. 123estateAgent are happy to confirm the property market in Bromley and surrounding areas is still very strong with many buyers still looking to purchase property. 

The latest rate of annual house price growth, at 9.5 per cent, is the highest in seven years, with the average price of a UK house now standing at £261,743. The housing market has defied all expectations, with many property experts starting to sound like scratch their heads.

‘These trends, coupled with growing confidence in a more rapid recovery in economic activity if restrictions continue to be eased, are likely to support house prices for some time to come, particularly given the continued shortage of properties for sale.

123estateAgent Bromley are also happy to confirm the flat market in Bromley is also picking up as this market was over shadowed by the house market and the stamp holiday. Coupled with the banks requesting 15% deposits this market has been slow since COVID 19 began. We have also seen a rise in buy to let investors taking advantage of the lower prices due to the 

Mortgage rates are at record lows, with the UK’s largest building society, Nationwide, today launching the first sub-1% five-year fixed-rate deal, and there still appear to be buyers looking to move to larger homes.

Iain McKenzie, the chief executive of the Guild of Property Professionals, said: “Much of last month’s rise is due to the last-minute scramble to make the most of the stamp duty holiday, but the holiday hasn’t fully wound down yet and we could still see a boom in areas with housing priced under £250,000.”

He added: “Demand for houses still exceeds supply by a huge margin, with our estate agent members seeing some of the fewest properties available per branch in living memory.

“With such a scarcity of housing stock, and the continuing lower level of stamp duty holiday, there is no sign of prices slowing down any time soon.”

The housing boom was also evident at the top of the property market, with people buying more £5m+ homes in London in the first half of the year than they have since 2014.

Data from Savills estate agent showed that there were 237 sales worth more than £5m recorded in the first six months of 2021, 59% more than the first half of 2020, when sales were depressed by the first lockdown, and 61% higher than the same period in 2019.

The total value of the transactions was £2.3bn, 41% higher than the first half of 2020. It was the highest number and value of transactions since the rush to beat previous stamp duty changes seven years ago.

Domestic buyers and international buyers already living in London drove the sales, Savills said, with many looking for larger homes and gardens to enjoy more space after the lockdowns. Activity was particularly focused in the £5-10m price range, which recorded 179 transactions, 72% more than the 104 sales last year.

What ever the future holds for the property market we have seen that every 10 or 12 years property has always gone up.

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