The UK average house price jumped by £ 20,000 in the twelve months to February, marking the fastest annual growth rate since October 2014.
House prices jumped 8.6 percent to £ 250,000, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said.
The data will add to fears that the UK property market is experiencing a bubble inflated by low interest rates and government policies that have pushed house prices further up.
In last month’s budget, Rishi Sunak announced the extension of a stamp duty holiday in England and Northern Ireland, reducing the cost of buying a home by up to £ 15,000.
An equivalent public holiday in Scotland ended on March 31, 2021. In Wales, a property tax exemption has been extended until June 30, 2021. The rise in house prices in all UK countries has more that canceled the stamp duty savings.
The Purchase Assistance Program has also been reopened, providing a new public subsidy to the housing market. Under this scheme, buyers with low deposits can take out government guaranteed loans of up to 20 percent of a home’s value or 40 percent in London.
Banks began offering purchase assistance offers this week after the program opened in December.
Average house prices rose over the year in England to £ 268,000 (an increase of 8.7%), Wales to £ 180,000 (8.4%), Scotland to £ 162,000 (8 , 0%) and in Northern Ireland to £ 148,000 (5.3 per cent).
The North West was the English region with the highest annual growth in average house prices (11.9%), while London recorded the lowest (4.6%).
The average house price in London remained the most expensive of any region in the UK, averaging £ 496,000 in February.
Separate figures from HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) showed that double the number of home sales was made in March 2021 compared to the same month a year earlier.
An estimated 190,980 sales took place, up from 94,380 in March 2020.
Experts said the buoyant market was in part driven by buyers looking for more space during the pandemic.
Nitesh Patel, strategic economist at the Yorkshire Building Society, said: “Available properties appear to be picking up quickly, adding upward pressure on prices.
“Buying behavior continues to be dominated by the search for space, with detached houses increasing by 9.1% over the year until February 2021, in contrast to apartments and maisonettes, which saw an increase of 6%. , 7% over the same period.
“With the stamp duty exemption in place in its current form until the end of June and the job market quite resilient, we don’t expect the dynamics of the real estate market to change anytime soon. , we expect the price momentum to continue for a few more months.
“However, the employment support program ends in September and the rise in prices at a faster rate than wages means affordability will become an issue for some buyers – so at this point we are likely to see housing market activity cool. “
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Source: www.independent.co.uk
This notice was published: 2021-04-21 12:10:55
