Bumper start to 2015 for housing market
Housing market has enjoyed a strong start to the year, according to Rightmove.
The housing market has enjoyed a bumper start to 2015, according to Rightmove.
The property portal reported record page views on Sunday 11th January, with site visits up a whopping 10% on January last year. What's more, new sellers' asking prices have increased by 1.4% (£3,798) at a time of year when prices usually fall.
Rightmove has highlighted the Stamp Duty changes as a possible spur, following a slowdown in activity at the end of 2014.
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Region to region
Here's how asking prices have changed in the various regions of the UK on both a monthly and annual basis.
|
Region |
Average price January 2015 |
Average price December 2014 |
Monthly change |
Average price January 2014 |
Annual change |
|
Greater London |
£566,404 |
£561,090 |
0.9% |
£502,297 |
12.8% |
|
South East |
£357,534 |
£349,415 |
2.3% |
£327,087 |
9.3% |
|
East of England |
£285,093 |
£283,748 |
0.5% |
£261,949 |
8.8% |
|
South West |
£267,623 |
£259,779 |
3% |
£248,878 |
7.5% |
|
West Midlands |
£189,400 |
£184,094 |
2.9% |
£181,905 |
4.1% |
|
East Midlands |
£177,170 |
£175,495 |
1% |
£170,625 |
3.8% |
|
Wales |
£166,833 |
£162,472 |
2.7% |
£157,425 |
6% |
|
North West |
£163,596 |
£163,596 |
0% |
£156,400 |
4.6% |
|
Yorkshire and the Humber |
£161,199 |
£161,555 |
-0.2% |
£158,609 |
1.6% |
|
North East |
£135,055 |
£137,456 |
-1.7% |
£134,052 |
0.8% |
The early bird advantage
Rightmove reckons those making a move early this year have an advantage.
This is because the supply of property coming on to the market isn't adequately filling the demand - stock has fallen 10% compared to the same period in 2014, which is pushing those prices up. Moving quickly means you get a better pick of the housing crop, and likely at a cheaper price.
And as prices move upwards, the saving from the revised Stamp Duty rules will diminish.
What's more, the portal reckons that selling a property will be harder this year than in 2014. As it's now harder to get a mortgage thanks to the Mortgage Market Review (MMR), Rightmove reckons buyers won’t settle for less than what they want, where they want. That means they're more likely to postpone their move rather than take what they can, leading to a potential dip in the market, particularly around the election.
As a result, Rightmove has christened 2015 the year of the 'selective mover'.
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More on housing:
House prices continue slowdown, says Halifax
Most Recent
Comments
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Actually it makes a HUGE difference to us youth you know. I've been a good boy (and fortunate enough) and overpaid my mortgage since I bought my house 18 months ago. But in that time the 10% rise in HP has meant I can now remortgage at below 75% LTV, rather than 85% that I took the mortgage out at. The difference in rates is huge. 3.69% (BBR+3.19%) against 2.25% (SVR - 2.5%) for 3 years. This is a phenomenal saving for someone who has a large (in comparison to the value of my house) and is reducing my mortgage payment by over £170 a month or 18%. Put another way, if I use that £170 as an overpayment each month, it knocks nearly 5 years off my mortgage. Whether rising house prices are good for the wider population/economy we can argue for a long time. For me, could alter when I can retire (I say this as a 31 year old!) Caveat - I'm obviously a little more switched on than the average mortgagor, and therefore would have remortgaged at the point my mortgage fell below 75% LTV anyway, so would have made some of these savings without HP rises, but not as early/as much.
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Rightmove, that totally unbiased property portal with ABSOLUTELY NO INTEREST in rising sales says: [B]"those making a move early this year have an advantage."[/B] Which is good because: [B]"the supply of property coming on to the market [...] has fallen 10% compared to the same period in 2014"[/B] and [B]"the portal reckons that selling a property will be harder this year than in 2014"[/B] Which can't be good for prices. I'm also glad they're not a property portal actually involved with [I]selling property[/I]. Otherwise they might be in trouble as both transaction numbers and new orders (mainly from people moving as first time buyers are in the main priced out) fall. They might even feel the need to issue a selectively-worded press release just to "pump up demand".
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This is marvellous. We're all going to be rich.
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24 January 2015