Photo: Martie1Swart
Increasing house prices in London are inspiring sellers to come onto the market.
Asking price rises have accelerated in the last month, according to Home.co.uk’s latest report, taking the average annual appreciation for England and Wales to 9.6 per cent.
While a shortfall in supply has been a key driver of London’s soaring values, though, sellers are beginning to be encouraged back to the marketplace by the prospect of a better return. Indeed, new instructions across Greater London jumped 8.2 per cent in May 2014 year-on-year.
Demand is responding in kind: the typical time on market across England and Wales has dropped further to just 88 days, which will help to boost seller confidence further.
Wales is by far the most improved property market, with a drop of 37 days in just one month (from 166 to 129 days). The North East is also gaining considerable momentum, and the typical time on market has fallen 29 days over the last month to a new post-crisis low of 138 days.
The English regions where the market has fully recovered, Greater London, the South East, East Anglia, the South West and East Midlands, show little or no change in marketing times over the last month.
“Should this trend continue, increasing supply will slowly apply the brakes on price rises in the UK’s leading property market,” comments Home.co.uk. “Following on from that, we can expect a similar increase in supply over the coming months in the South East and East Anglia, where prices are currently soaring.â