Rightmove has reported a 1.1% (+£3,547) rise in newly marketed property in April.
It has pushed the national average to £313,655, exceeding the previous high of £310,471 set in June 2016.
Rightmove said this has been driven by strong buyer demand, with the highest number of sales agreed at this time of year since 2007, before the credit crunch. While the run-up to an election creates a degree of uncertainty and often a pause in activity, this strong set of figures should help mitigate pre-election jitters, the firm said.
Miles Shipside, Rightmove director, said: “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.
“It remains to be seen what effect the run-up to the snap election will have, though any slowdown in activity will be counter-balanced by the market’s current fast pace. Indeed, in locations where choice of suitable property is limited hesitation could mean losing out to others who still decide to act.”
In the first-time buyer sector of two bedrooms or fewer we are seeing record prices and strong buyer activity, with a 6.5% annual rate of increase. However, this is tempered by a slower pace of increase further up the market, with an overall annual rate of increase of 2.2%, the lowest recorded since April 2013. This month’s 1.1% rise is also weaker than the average 1.6% spring-boosted surge of the last seven years.
Shipside added: “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.”
Jeremy Duncombe, director of Legal & General Mortgage Club, added: “Until we start to see the promises from this year’s Housing White Paper put into action, the cost of entering the homeownership club will continue to rise. Great news for homeowners, but not for first-time buyers trying to break away from Generation Rent.
“For far too long now, our housing market has not been meeting the demands of an average first-time buyer and this desperately needs to change. There is simply not an adequate supply of affordable housing across all tenures. The Housing Minister needs to finally address the imbalance between supply and demand which will start to restructure our housing market once and for all, and we hope that the focus on the upcoming election isn’t an excuse to lose focus on the Housing White Paper.”