End Of Stamp Duty Holiday Sees Average House Prices Surge

The price of an average house is now as expensive as it has ever been, standing at just over £267,500, according to data from Halifax, who report that following the end of the stamp duty holiday last month, house price growth saw its strongest month since 2007. In June 2020, the month before the stamp duty holiday began, the typical standardised price for a UK property was £239,317. Therefore a home-mover would have faced SDLT costs of around £2,300. From July last year, the zero rate introduced on homes valued up to £500,000 (falling to £250,000 between July and September this year as the holiday was tapered out) meant no stamp duty would be payable on that same property. Read more on the Property Reporter website.

https://www.propertyreporter.co.uk/property/halifax-end-of-stamp-duty-holiday-sees-average-house-prices-surge-to-record-all-time-high.html 

House Price Growth Slows As Housing Market Cools

The Halifax says house prices rose again in July after dipping last month, making the average price £261,221 and leaving prices 7.6% higher than at the same time last year. Last month, average prices were 8.7% up on a year ago. The lender said it expected prices to settle further after the recent spate of strong rises, which has been fuelled in part by tax breaks on stamp duty. But it said a shortage of homes was likely to support prices. Read more on the BBC website.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-58112221 

House Prices Fell In June As Full Stamp Duty Holiday Ends

House prices fell last month for the first time since January in a sign that the overheating UK housing market is finally starting to cool, according to lender Halifax. Month-on-month, the price of the average home slipped by 0.5% in June to £260,358, a drop of £1,284 from £261,642 in May’s average. But on an annual basis, Halifax said property prices were still 8.8%, or about £21,000, higher than they were a year ago, with the strongest growth in Wales, Northern Ireland and north-west England. Read more on the Guardian website.

https://www.theguardian.com/money/2021/jul/07/uk-house-prices-fell-in-june-as-full-stamp-duty-holiday-ended-says-halifax

House Prices Jump 9.5% As Buyers Seek Larger Homes

UK house prices leapt another 9.5% in the year to May, boosted by the government's stamp duty holiday which ends this month. The Halifax said prices rose by more than £22,000 to an average of £261,743. But it said buyer preferences are shifting "in anticipation of new, post-pandemic lifestyles". "There's greater demand for larger properties with more space," said Halifax managing director Russell Galley. He said this was leading to "an increased willingness to spend a higher proportion of income on housing". Halifax said annual house price inflation was at its strongest level in nearly seven years, with UK prices rising by 1.3% month-on-month. Read more on the BBC website.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-57383862 

Budget Removed Uncertainty For House Buyers

The UK's largest mortgage lender has said the extension of the stamp duty holiday has "removed uncertainty" for those completing house purchases. The Halifax said the housing market had been at a crossroads before the Budget. Stamp duty relief in England, Northern Ireland, and the equivalent in Wales, have all been extended. The Halifax said UK house prices in February were 5.2% higher than a year earlier, averaging £251,697. Read more on the BBC website.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-56291299

Average UK House Prices Top £250k For The First Time In History

Newly released data from Halifax has revealed that during October, average house prices across the UK topped £250k for the first time ever following the strongest growth in over four years. Halifax data shows that on a monthly basis, house prices in October saw a 0.3% rise against September and between August and October, saw a 4.0% rise against the preceding three months. Driven by the mini-boom, research shows that house prices in October were 7.5% higher than in the same month a year earlier – the strongest growth since June 2016. Read more on the Property Reporter website.

https://www.propertyreporter.co.uk/property/average-uk-house-prices-top-250k-for-the-first-time-in-history.html 

UK House Prices Rise At Fastest Annual Pace Since 2016

 British house prices rose last month at the fastest annual pace since June 2016 in the latest sign of a post-coronavirus lockdown surge in the housing market, data from mortgage lender Halifax shows. House prices were 7.3% higher than in September last year, accelerating from annual growth of 5.2% in August. Read more on the Reuters website.

https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-britain-economy-houseprices/uk-house-prices-rise-at-fastest-annual-pace-since-2016-halifax-idUKKBN26S122

CEBR Forecasts 14% House Price Drop In 2021

The current resurgence in the housing market is likely to be short-lived according to the Centre for Economics and Business Research, which is forecasting a 14 per cent drop in house prices in 2021.The think tank says the housing market “defied gravity” in August, with indices like Halifax putting prices at record highs. It says these trends are “at odds with the wider economic turmoil”. The CEBR says that the stamp duty cut is one factor driving this apparent contradiction and it expects that the measure will result in a 1.2 per cent increase in prices and a 6 per cent rise in transactions. Read more on the Mortgage Strategy website.

https://www.mortgagestrategy.co.uk/news/cebr-forecasts-14-house-price-drop-in-2021/

House Prices Fall For Fourth Consecutive Month

Throughout the month of June, UK house prices saw 0.1% monthly decrease according to the latest Halifax House Price Index. The latest quarter showed that house prices were 0.9% were lower than seen in January to March. Despite the monthly decline, house prices in June were 2.5% higher than in the same month a year earlier. Read more on the Property Wire website.

https://www.propertywire.com/news/house-prices-fall-for-fourth-consecutive-month/

House Prices Down Just 1.1% From Peak

House prices have fallen just 1.1% from their pre-lockdown peak, according to the latest house price data from the Halifax. The mortgage lender today reported a third month-on-month fall in prices in May, with prices down by 0.2% in the month to an average price of just under £238,000. This is a fall of 1.1% in total from the recent pre-lockdown peak in house prices in February, and takes prices back to the level last seen in December 2019. Year-on-year, the firm said, prices are still up, with May’s number 2.6% above the level of May 2019. Read more on Housing Today.

https://www.housingtoday.co.uk/news/house-prices-down-just-11-from-peak/5106354.article

House Price Growth Reaches 2.8%

Annual house price growth reached 2.8% in February, dropping from a high of 4.1% in January, Halifax’s House Price Index has found. Quarterly growth stands at 2.9%, with monthly prices rising by 0.3%.  Read more on the Property Wire website.

https://www.propertywire.com/news/house-price-growth-reaches-28

Renters Still Paying Up To 18% More Than Buyers

The gap between home buying and renting is at its smallest margin for 10 years, but renters are still paying up to 18% more in some parts of the UK, according to the latest research from Halifax. At a UK level, homeowners are saving 3% on average (£227 annually) with the gap reducing from 17% year-on-year since 2015, when buyers were saving an average of £,1476 per year. This has reversed from 2009 when it was buying that was more expensive, and renters saved on average £209 per year or £17 per month. Read more on the Property Reporter website.

https://www.propertyreporter.co.uk/finance/renters-still-paying-up-to-18-more-than-buyers.html

'More Needs To Be Done' For FTBs

Worrying new figures released by Halifax have highlighted the struggle first-time-buyers in the UK are facing as they attempt to get their first foot on the property ladder. According to the lender, the cost challenge facing first-time buyers increased significantly over the last year, with growth in average purchase prices and deposits up sharply. The average price paid by a first-time buyer in the UK last year was £231,455, up by £18,252 (9%) from a year earlier (£213,203). London saw the biggest monetary increase in the price paid by first-time buyers over the last 12 months, up by £27,764 (7%). Read more on the Property Reporter website.

https://www.propertyreporter.co.uk/property/more-needs-to-be-done-for-ftbs-as-costs-soar-over-the-past-year.html

Annual House Price Growth Hits 2.1% In November

The latest data from Halifax has surprised many this morning with the news that November saw the biggest monthly rise in house prices since February. However, is this just a pre-Christmas rush or a sign of things to come?  The figures from Halifax revealed that on a monthly basis, house prices saw a modest 1.0% rise and during the latest quarter (September to November) house prices were 0.2% higher than in the preceding three months (June to August). Read more on the Property Reporter website.

https://www.propertyreporter.co.uk/finance/annual-house-price-growth-hits-21-in-november.html

House Price Growth At Six-Year Low

House prices are rising at the slowest annual pace for more than six years, according to the Halifax. The mortgage lender, part of Lloyds Banking Group, said prices rose 1.1% in the year to the end of September, the slowest rate since April 2013. Price growth would remain "subdued" for as long as economic uncertainty in the UK continued, the Halifax said. The cost of the average home in September was £232,574, down by 0.4% compared with August, it said. Read more on the BBC website.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-49959237

UK House Prices Unexpectedly Fall In July

British house prices unexpectedly dropped for a second month in a row in July, figures from mortgage lender Halifax show, adding to signs that households are growing warier of making major financial decisions ahead of Brexit. Halifax said house prices fell 0.2% on the month, compared with economists’ forecasts in a Reuters poll for a 0.3% rise, while the annual growth rate for the three months to July dropped to 4.1% from 5.7%, also a sharper decline than expected. Read more on the Reuters website.

https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-britain-economy-houseprices/uk-house-prices-unexpectedly-fall-in-july-halifax-idUKKCN1UX0Q3

UK House Prices Pick Up A Bit More Speed

British house prices rose at the fastest annual rate since early 2017 in the three months to the end of June, mortgage lender Halifax said, adding to other signs that the housing market has stabilized after weakening on Brexit worries. House prices were up by 5.7% in the three months to June compared with the same period a year ago after rising by 5.2% in the three months to May, Halifax said on Friday. A Reuters poll of economists had pointed to a 5.9% rise. Halifax cautioned that the annual increase was flattered by weak price growth in the corresponding period in 2018. In monthly terms, prices fell by 0.3% after a rise of 0.4% in May. Read more on the Reuters website.

https://uk.reuters.com/article/us-britain-economy-houseprices/uk-house-prices-pick-up-a-bit-more-speed-halifax-idUKKCN1U00RF

House Prices Show Surprise Spike

House prices showed their biggest monthly jump since at least the 1980s in February, leaping by 5.9 percent from January, data from mortgage lender Halifax shows.  But economists said the monthly index was volatile and Brexit uncertainty was still probably weighing on the market. In annual terms, prices were up by 2.8 percent in the three months to February, the lender said, the biggest rise by that measure since August 2018. A Reuters poll of economists had pointed to a 0.1 percent increase on the month and a 1.0 percent annual rise in prices. Read more on the Reuters website.

https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-britain-houseprices-halifax/uk-house-prices-show-surprise-spike-higher-in-february-halifax-idUKKCN1QO0UZ

Most Mortgages Go To First-Time Buyers

First-time buyers now make up the majority of home purchases bought with a mortgage in the UK, figures show. The Halifax bank said the last time such a situation existed was 1995. Its research found Pendle in Lancashire and Copeland in Cumbria were the most affordable areas, with homes costing 2.6 times local earnings on average. An average deposit of £32,841 is required to get on the property ladder in the UK, but first-time buyers in London need to find £110,656. Read more on the BBC website.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-47336500

Third Of British Homeowners Priced Out Of Their Own Property

More than one in three UK homeowners wouldn’t be able to afford their home if it were listed on the property market at today’s value. The Halifax House Price Index has released figures showing prices in the last three months were 2.2 per cent higher than in the same period last year, with the average property now coming in at £220,962. The figures support separate findings that suggest that a significant proportion of those who have owned their own home even for a few years would already be priced out of the market if they were to attempt the purchase again, despite historically low mortgage interest rates. Read more on the Independent website.

https://www.independent.co.uk/money/spend-save/uk-homeowners-property-market-housing-affordable-buy-a8344326.html