In April 2016 the average price of property coming to market typically for first-time buyers and investors dropped by 1.4% from March.
The rush to beat the 3% stamp duty surcharge resulted in a ‘chain reaction’ of higher demand in higher price brackets, Rightmove has claimed in its House Price Index.
In April 2016 the average price of property coming to market typically for first-time buyers and investors dropped by 1.4% from March.
Prices instead rose by 0.6% for three or four bedroom detached homes and by 1.9% for the top of the ladder (four bedroom detached and five bedrooms or more).
Miles Shipside, Rightmove director and housing market analyst, said: “While some felt that there would be a stampede of existing landlords selling to other landlords, these figures indicate that many of those who sold during the buy-to-let rush were actually first-time sellers looking to trade up.
“They used the heightened demand from investors competing fiercely with first-time buyers to springboard themselves onto the next rung of the housing ladder.
“After several years of being held back from moving by post-credit-crunch price doldrums, they have now benefitted from a heady combination of price growth, historically cheap interest rates, and confidence of a quick sale with purchasers working to a tight deadline.”
Overall house prices rose by £3,843 to reach a record high of £307,033.
Tanya Jackson, Yorkshire Building Society’s head of corporate affairs, said: “Now that the stamp duty increase has come into force we should see house price inflation normalise in the coming months.
“Looking to the long-term trends, prices are still increasing well beyond wage growth on an annual basis and are likely to continue to do so in the future, regardless of an expected slowdown in activity around the EU referendum.
“Demand is likely to continue to outpace supply as a result of both the backlog of people looking to buy their first home, along with enduring interest from investors attracted to the rate of return the property market has to offer.”
Adrian Whittaker, sales director at New Street Mortgages, added: “The stamp duty tax clearly led to a ‘happy hour’ feeling in the market, as those planning a transaction looked to get their buy-to-let purchases through ahead of the deadline.”
