House price growth surges to 5.2%, says Halifax

UK house prices in the year to May witnessed an unexpected increase of 5.2%. Data compiled by Halifax shows that the average house price increased to £237,837 in the year to May, following what was the biggest annual increase since January 2017.

This sharp increase contrasts significantly to a year ago, when price growth was much weaker.

Halifax’s managing director, Russell Galley, spoke of today’s positive property market in Britain.

“Despite the ongoing political and economic uncertainty, underlying conditions in the broader economy continue to underpin the housing market, particularly the twin factors of high employment and low interest rates,” Galley commented.

“This is supported by industry-wide figures which suggest no real change in the number of homes being sold month-to-month, while Bank of England data show the number of mortgages being approved rose by almost 6 per cent in April, reversing the softness seen in the previous month.”
With continued levels of high employment and low interest rates, Halifax predicts the housing market will remain stable.

Meanwhile, confident property owners are predicting bigger house price rises are on their way. According to a survey by Zoopla, homeowners believe house prices in the UK will rise by almost 5% in the next six months.

In a similar survey, the house moving website, Reallymoving, has forecast property prices will surge by a whopping 9% between now and August.
The site pins the escalating prices on vendors growing tired of the ‘wait and see’ approach due to Brexit. Rather than waiting to see how the market pans out in the wake of Brexit, sellers are deciding to press on with their move.

“This new buyer demand and a continued shortage of quality housing stock is on course to drive strong price growth between May and August, with particular surges in regions benefiting from strong demand such as the north-east and the south-west, where affordability remains attractive and wages are rising,” said Rob Houghton, Reallymoving’s CEO.

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