London recorded its biggest New Year increase in home prices since 2008 at 3.6 percent, buoyed by a surge of home sellers into the market this month, said Rightmove Plc.
The property website said asking prices in the city are now averaging £480,890 (S$936,233), a growth of 9.7 percent from last year. In comparison, prices rose 0.2 percent nationally.
Compared to last year, the number of new homes sold climbed 29 percent. If this trend continues, supply and demand will likely achieve a better balance and house price growth will ease, Rightmove said.
The greater demand has pushed up values in the UK capital, outperforming the rest of the country.
Miles Shipside, Director at Rightmove, reckons the sustained increase in home prices “restricts any recovery in transaction volumes that deliver the level of fluidity that a vibrant and healthy market needs”.
But the influx of sellers into the market now “could be an early signal that the heady rate of price increases is set to slow down, driven by stretched buyer affordability and more stock to choose from”.
Meanwhile a report from the Centre for Economics and Business Research predicts a 0.8 percent increase in UK home prices this year. Additionally, the average value of homes could hit £223,000 (S$434,101) in 2014, surpassing the pre-crisis peak recorded in 2007 for the first time.
Romesh Navaratnarajah, Senior Editor of PropertyGuru, wrote this story. To contact him about this or other stories email romesh@propertyguru.com.sg
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