Prices hit new highs for the fifth time within a year
The average price paid for a home in England and Wales in March 2022 was £370,052, up £28,650, or 8.4%, compared to average house prices in March last year, the latest e.surv Acadata House Price Index has revealed.
Last month’s house prices are also £4,900, or 1.3%, higher than the average prices the previous month. This is the fifth time in the last 12 months that the average house price has hit a new record high for England and Wales.
The average house price has continued to increase throughout the first quarter of this year on an almost straight-line basis, confounding commentators who had been expecting to see a slowing growth rate as a result of increased cost-of-living pressures beginning to bear down on consumers.
Richard Sexton, director at e.surv, said that the strength of the market is underpinned by the continued limited supply and strong demand for space post-pandemic.
“This has been most visible for many months in the performance of Wales as a region, but it is supported by the growth in the commuter belts of the South East, which offer space but also proximity and good connections to urban centres for hybrid working,” Sexton observed.
Wales is the GOR area with the highest annual growth rate, a position it has held for eight consecutive months. In second place is the South East, which is currently experiencing strong demand for large properties from those who want a change in lifestyle, but also want to remain a reasonable commute away from London.
Acadata senior analysts said that with stock levels of homes for sale still remaining relatively low, there is inevitably pressure on prices for those households wanting to buy, and this has contributed to the continued price rises.
Sexton pointed out that low interest rates continue to support buyers’ affordability, but the Bank of England has alluded to rates rising slowly in the face of economic headwinds.
“Inflation has traditionally signalled diminishing returns in other asset groups and often heralds a re-emergence in the popularity of bricks and mortar with investors. We may, therefore, see even more demand for those desirable properties that are coming to market,” he said.
The e.surv Acadata House Price Index for England and Wales uses the actual price at which every property in England and Wales was transacted. This includes prices for properties bought with cash, based on factual Land Registry data as opposed to mortgage-based prices, asking prices or prices based upon samples.
