The average house price has increased yet again in May
The average asking price of homes coming on to the UK property market hit a high of a third of a million pounds in May, according to figures from the property portal website Rightmove.
The average asking price has increased by 1.8%, or £5,767, over the past month to £333,564, the website said, with an “unexpected mini-boom” that started last year continuing well into 2021.
This mini-boom has been buoyed by the Stamp Duty Holiday, which was launched last summer, as well as the Lockdown Effect, with more people walking from home and the need for more outdoors space.
An imbalance between supply and demand in some areas of the country has put pressure on stock and allowed sellers to ask higher prices for their homes. Rightmove said average asking prices had increased most rapidly in Wales and the north-west of England, with increases of 13% and 11%, respectively, since the first lockdown in March 2020.
Tim Bannister, the Rightmove’s director of property data said: “Buyer affordability is increasingly stretched, but there’s obviously some elasticity left to stretch a bit more as many buyers are squeezing their way into higher price bands.”
He said there was both willingness and ability to pay more among buyers.
“There appears to be more headroom in buyers’ budgets among those looking to upsize. Family homes with three bedrooms or more are like gold dust in many areas of the country, especially in parts of the north,” he said.
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