Prices for London property have continued to climb, while overall residential UK real estate values dipped in February. This suggests a market slowdown, despite the 7% gain over the previous year. Still, evidence of increased buyer interest, coupled with a lift on stamp duties for first-timers, could lift prices going forward. See the following article from Property Wire for more on this.
Average residential property prices in the UK have increased by 7% from a year ago but they fell slightly in February, backing up the feeling that the market is slowing.
The February data from the Land Registry’s flagship House Price Index shows the average property value is now £164,455. The monthly change from January to February was a decrease of 0.3%.
But the picture varies widely across the country. While properties in London rose 11.9% over the last 12 months, those in the North East fell by 2.3%. And the monthly figures also see-saw. The North West experienced the greatest monthly rise, up 3.6% while Wales saw prices fall 2.4%.
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Last month was the fifth month in a row in which prices rose in London. The average value of a property in London is now £333,394 and Kensington and Chelsea saw the biggest annual increase at 17.5%. Kingston upon Thames saw the highest monthly increase at 2.7%.
Barking and Dagenham saw the greatest annual decrease, with a fall of 4.4% while the biggest monthly fall was 0.7% in Bexley.
Overall nine regions in England and Wales experienced increases in their average property values over the last 12 months led by Brighton and Hove with a jump of 13.5% while Hartlepool saw an annual decline of 10.4%.
Simon Rubinsohn Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors chief economist said that the figures reinforce other reports that show property prices edged downwards in February. ‘This is broadly consistent with most other reports of the behavior of house prices last month. Despite this drop, the year on year gain in house prices continues to accelerate and now stands at 7%. The report does, however, note significant regional variations,’ said Rubinsohn.
‘Looking forward, the modest pick-up in buyer inquiries detected in the latest RICS Housing Market Survey is likely to be reinforced by the decision in the budget to remove stamp duty on property purchases by first time buyers. As a result, the drop in activity highlighted in the more timely mortgage approvals data is gradually likely to be reversed over the coming months,’ he explained.
‘The increase in demand should moreover provide some renewed upward pressure on house prices although we expect this to be partly offset by the increasing amounts of property that is being put on the market,’ he added.
This article has been republished from Property Wire. You can also view this article at Property Wire, an international real estate news site.
