Sales agreed at highest level since 2007

Sales agreed at highest level since 2007

Recent data has shown that seller’s asking prices reached a record peak in April with sales agreed reaching their highest point since 2007.

According to figures from Rightmove, the average price of property across England and Wales grew to £313,655, a monthly rise of 1.1%.

The property website – who’s figures date back to 2002 – stated that April’s average asking prices overtook June 2016’s previous peak of £310,471.

They also said that house prices have stayed strong due to the number of agreed sales remaining robust.

The last time sales agreed reached this level for this time of year was 2007, according to Director of Rightmove, Miles Shipside,

The “strong spring market”, he stated, would help to keep any uncertainty at bay in the run-up to the general election on 8 June.

Year on year, asking prices in the first-time buyer market have grown by 6.5%, with the price of a starter home rising to £194,881.

Across England and Wales, asking prices in all sectors have increased by a yearly 2.2%.  Generally speaking, however, Rightmove stated that the pace of asking price growth had reduced, falling to a low last hit in April 2013.

The strongest increase in average property prices was seen in Eastern England, with prices growing to £349,269 – a rise of 5.3%.

Following this was the West Midlands, with average prices rising to £215,784, having grown by 5%.

A year’s notice was given to those who invest in buy-to-let regarding the gradual reduction in tax benefits. As the changes have deterred buy-to-let investors, first-time buyers seem to have been the main market to benefit as the competition for similar homes has weakened slightly.

Commenting on the figures, Miles Shipside stated: “High buyer demand in most parts of the country has helped to propel the price of newly marketed property to record highs. There are signs of a strong spring market with the number of sales agreed achieved at this time of year being the highest since 2007.

“Increasingly stretched buyer affordability will continue to be a price moderator for sellers who are over-ambitious with their pricing, tempering the pace of price rises. Strong buyer activity this month has led to 10% higher numbers of sales agreed than in the same period in 2016. This large year-on-year disparity should be viewed cautiously as the comparable timespan in 2016 saw a drop in buy-to-let activity with the additional second home stamp duty. However, they are also up by 3.8% when compared to 2015.

“With the growth in household numbers and new-build supply struggling to keep pace, demand is strong and has led to the highest sales agreed numbers at this time of year since the heady pre-credit-crunch levels.”

 

Georgia Owen

Georgia is the Content Executive and will be your primary contact when submitting your latest news. While studying for an LLB at the University of Liverpool, Georgia gained experience working within retail, as well as social media management. She later went on to work for a local newspaper, before starting at Today’s Conveyancer.

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