Docklands News

Data from Nationwide shows that UK house price growth slowed in September, with the average price up by just 0.1% over the month, with this far lower than the growth of 2% recorded in August. The month-on-month increase means the average price hit £248,742 last month. The report also shows that annual house price growth in September came in at 10%, down from 11% in August. Wales and Northern Ireland were the strongest performing parts of the UK, while London was the weakest. In Wales, property prices have risen over 15% in the past year. Meanwhile, London saw annual growth slowing to 4.2%. England saw a slowing in annual house price growth to 8.5%, from 9.9% in the second quarter. Property price growth in northern England continued to exceed that in southern England. Reflecting on the data, Robert Gardner, Nationwide’s chief economist, noted the impact of the tapering stamp duty holiday, adding that “activity is likely to soften” now the tax break has been withdrawn.

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Research by Hamptons suggests house price growth will slow over the next four years but average prices will still be 13.5% higher by the end of 2024. Aneisha Beveridge, head of research, believes a second wave of lockdown-fuelled demand will keep price growth above pre-pandemic levels over the next two years but by 2024 the average growth rate will dip to 2.5%. Hamptons believes a new “house price cycle” will start after that, saying that while historically, “the beginning of a new cycle has been synonymous with a sharp price correction”, in this instance “we’re more likely to see a continuation of modest price growth... rather than a boom followed by a bust.” The report also suggest UK house prices will be 4.5% higher at the end of 2021 than at the start of the year, with a rise of 3.5% forecast for 2022. However, it notes that this figure will mask widespread regional variations, with London set to underperform compared to the rest of the country and the market more buoyant in the north. 

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House prices increased by £44 per day on average in the six months leading up to August, according to an index from Zoopla, with this up on the £30 a day increase recorded between July 2020 to January 2021. The average house price in August was £235,000, with this a record high for Zoopla’s index. The average property has seen its value climb £17,508 since March 2020, the month that the UK saw its initial coronavirus lockdown. Grainne Gilmore, head of research at Zoopla, said that while demand coming from buyers “has further to run”, this will be balanced by the ending of Government support for the economy via furlough and “more challenging economic conditions overall”. “We expect the market to remain busy compared to historical norms, and for price growth to remain in firmly positive territory at the end of the year,” she added.

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New data from Zoopla has revealed the disparity in how much space home-movers' money will buy them. The average cost for one square foot of property in the UK is currently £282, but in London, the figure rises to £562. In Wales, one square foot of space costs £199, while in Scotland the figure is £160, and in the North East just £157. Burnley is the cheapest town in the UK at just £123, while in Kensington and Chelsea, one square foot of space costs £1,491 – more than twelve times the figure for Burnley. One-bedroom flats are most expensive per square foot at £389. For a two-bed house this falls to £270, then to £262 for a three-bed, rising to £292 for a four-bed house and £312 for a five bedroom house.

Metro  

It is taking longer to sell a home in London than anywhere else in the UK , as the capital's housing market stays “sluggish”. The average amount of time it took from marketing a home to accepting an offer rose from 55 days in August to 58 in September, and up from a 12-month low of 48 days this time last year. This was more than three weeks longer than the average for the rest of the country. The quickest time to secure a buyer was in Scotland , where it took 24 days, and the South West , where it took 33 days. The average asking price rose 0.8% in the capital in the 12 months to September, to £638,285. The greatest annual asking price rise was in Barking and Dagenham at 5.7% to £346,594 followed by Bromley (4.8% to £585,876).

London Evening Standard  

Nearly 30% of home sales went to first-time buyers last month, the highest proportion in over a year, according to new data from various large estate agents. It marks the highest percentage since June 2020, when 29% sales went to people getting on the property ladder, according to Propertymark. It was the strongest August for sales to first-time buyers since 2016, when the figure was also 28%. There have been signs of the housing market becoming less frenzied after a stamp duty holiday in England and Northern Ireland was tapered from July. Many mortgage lenders have also reintroduced low-deposit mortgages in recent months, after many such deals disappeared last year in the uncertain economy. The figures also suggest that competition for homes remains strong amid a lack of supply. Across the UK housing market, more than a third (37%) of properties sold for more than the original asking price in August, up from 31% in July. In August 2020, just 13% of homes sold over the asking price.

City AM (20/09/2021)