Double-digit inflation for May house price index

Double-digit inflation for May house price index

14:23 PM, 1st June 2021, About 3 years ago 1

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The latest Nationwide House Price index released for May is showing double-digit annual house price growth of 10.9%, the highest level in nearly seven years.

The new record average house price now stands at £242,832, up £23,930 over the past year. Prices are also up 1.8% monthonmonth, following a 2.3% rise in April.

Robert Gardner, Nationwide’s Chief Economist, said: May saw a further acceleration in annual house price growth to 10.9%, the highest level recorded since August 2014. In monthonmonth terms, house prices rose by1.8% in May, after taking account of seasonal effects, following a 2.3% rise in April.

The market has seen a complete turnaround over the past twelve months. A year ago, activity collapsed in the wake of the first lockdown with housing transactions falling to a record low of 42,000in April 2020. But activity surged towards the end of last year and into 2021, reaching a record high of 183,000 in March, as shown in the chart below.

While Marchs spike in transactions was driven by the original end date of the stamp duty holiday, a lot of momentum has been maintained. Our research indicates that the extension to the stamp duty holiday is not the key factor, though it is clearly impacting the timing of transactions.

Amongst homeowners surveyed at the end of April1thatwere either moving home or considering a move, three quarters(68%)said this would have been the case even if the stamp duty holiday had not been extended. It is shifting housing preferences which is continuing to drive activity, with people reassessing their needs in the wake of the pandemic.

At the end of April, 25%of homeowners surveyed said they were either in the process of moving or considering a move as a result of the pandemic, only modestly below the 28% recorded in September last year. Given that only around 5% of the housing stock typically changes hands in a given year, it only requires a relatively small proportion of people to follow through on this to have a material impact.”


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Comments

Mick Roberts

9:08 AM, 3rd June 2021, About 3 years ago

All good for those who's selling. Not if we can't sell at moment cause tenant's can't get anywhere cause of all Govt & Councils rules.

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