UK House Prices Extend Record With 0.1% Gain In July

The latest figures from Rightmove’s House Price Index indicate a 0.2% rise in the amounts sellers were demanding in the capital.

It comes despite year-on-year growth of 9.7 per cent after prices surged during the second half of last year. In July, the average asking price for a home in the London borough fell by £178,000 to £2.29m in July.

“The fall in inner London prices is also a likely reflection of the slower market in more expensive areas, with demand moving outwards with more affordable prices”.

“This will however depend on addressing capacity constraints in the building industry, the price of land for housing, the consistency of funding for key players in the construction sector and the overall stability of the housing market and the wider economy”.

Average prices in the top five performing boroughs were all below £614,000.

However, there’s also been a “sharp drop” in number of properties being put up for sale.

That follows the 3.0% jump in June, which was a record high for one month.

“The forthcoming extra tax burdens on buy-to-let investors may help to tip the balance in favour of first-time buyers, but the consequent drop in rental property supply could push up rents”.

On a yearly basis, prices spiked 5.1% after climbing 4.5% in the previous month.

Last month there were a quarter more inquiries for first-time buyer-type homes of up to two-bedrooms compared with larger properties, according to Rightmove.

The property website said developers now face a “quandary” on how to deliver more smaller homes, when larger homes tend to offer greater profit margins and attract more comfortable buyers.