The price of the average house in the UK has risen to £211,230, a rise of 8.1% over the twelve months to May this year, and 1.1% from April into May.
New build prices have risen dramatically, up a huge 9% between April and May to £270,178, and a total of 16.4% annually. Correspondingly, the average resold property went for £207,281, a monthly change of 0.6% and an annual change of 7.5%.
The price for mortgaged properties has risen faster than cash purchases, with an 8.7% change over the year compared with a 7.4% change for cash purchases.
First time buyer prices have also risen marginally faster than those for movers, with the average buyer across England, Wales and Scotland spending £178,923 (a rise of 8.3% annually or 1.2% monthly) with the average mover paying £244,413 (up 8.2% and 1.1% annually and monthly respectively).
The data also includes final sales volumes for March, with the ONS saying the stamp duty hike resulted in a 51% increase in transaction numbers across England, Wales and Scotland compared with Mach 2015. However, the rise in Northern Ireland was much lower – just 15.7% for the corresponding period.
Andrew Bridges, managing director of Stirling Ackroyd, said: “Since these figures – for May – it’s likely that house prices have already fallen to some extent in parts of the country. British property buyers are weathering a storm of uncertainty, and the hatches were battened down a little in the first week or two after the Brexit vote.
“But this is a storm, not climate change. Beyond a couple of months’ volatility, the real drivers of UK property values have hardly changed. Across the country there are still too few homes to match demand, and if anything the construction of new homes is now slowing – all further strengthening the long-term prospects for investors in the UK property market. Particularly in London, the world is bigger than Europe and bigger than a few months one summer in 2016. The world will carry on turning and London will remain the capital of the world.”
