RIGHTMOVE SAYS IT IS EXPECTING OFFICIAL FIGURES TO SHOW JUNE WAS RECORD HIGH FOR HOUSE PRICES AND PROPERTY SALES
Months of “frenzied buyer activity” have driven average house prices for a UK home to a new high, according to Rightmove.
They expected figures from HMRC (due later this week) to show that June was the busiest month on record for sales. Buyers have been rushing to complete before stamp duty rules change in parts of the United Kingdom.
On 30 June, a temporary tax break on the first £500,000 of the cost of residential property in England and Northern Ireland began to be phased out. The threshold has been cut to £250,000. Wales ended its temporary tax break entirely, while Scotland’s had finished at the end of March.
STAMP DUTY FREEZE
The Stamp Duty break has boosted the housing market, together with buyers’ appetite to move after lifestyle shifts during the pandemic. This has driven up prices and activity in most parts of the UK.
An average property cost £254,624 in May. Rightmove said the first six months of the year had been the busiest it had recorded since 2000. This has pushed up the average price of homes coming onto the market in the UK to £338,447. This is an increase of £21,389, or 6.7%, since the beginning of 2021.
PROPERTY SHORTAGE
While buyers were snapping up homes and taking advantage of the stamp duty break, Rightmove said that sellers had been scarcer. In the first 6 months 140,000 more sales were agreed than average, but there were 85,000 fewer new listings. This made for a shortfall of 225,000 properties on the market.
“This stark shortfall, along with frenzied buyer activity, is fuelling record high prices and leading to record lows in available stock for sale,” Rightmove said.
“With high activity levels continuing despite the June stamp duty deadline now passing, there is an urgent need for these low stocks of property for sale to be rebuilt in order for price stability to return.”
Marc von Grundherr, a director of the estate agent Benham and Reeves, said: “The UK property market continues to defy expectation, with house prices reaching yet another record high despite whispers of a decline in values as a result of the tapered stamp duty holiday deadline. There’s no doubt the stamp duty holiday has been the catalyst for this impressive market performance.”
“However, it isn’t the driving factor behind the intent to purchase for UK homebuyers. A robust level of activity will remain long after it has expired.”
Contact the team at MK Estates today to discuss your property buying and selling requirements.
