Home prices are on the rise despite lacklustre activity in the market, following the Brexit vote and a tax increase.
Home prices in the UK rose by 0.1 percent in August to £292,921 (S$527,510), pushing prices up by 4.3 percent from the previous year, reported Bloomberg, citing a report by Acadata and LSL Property Services.
The slight increase in prices comes as the property market continues to witness lacklustre recovery following the shock of the Brexit vote and a tax increase.
The UK has seen home prices slow sharply since the spring, with the decision to leave the European Union in June adding pressure to a market that is already feeling the brunt of a stamp-duty surcharge on investment properties introduced two months earlier.
London was hardest hit, with prices there falling for a fifth month in July, revealed fresh data.
“While we might have hoped to see the impact of the tax changes slowly receding, the market remains muted,” said Acadata’s Chairman Peter Williams and housing analyst John Tindale.
“We must wait to see how the market settles as we move out of the holiday season into the key autumn period, and as the effects of interventions and immediate loss of confidence as a consequence of the Brexit vote trickle through.”
In August, the number of residential transactions climbed by 2.6 percent to 78,000, but it is still down by 6.8 percent from the previous year. Overall average prices are down by 1.4 percent from February’s record.
According to the groups, London home values dropped by 0.5 percent in July as declines in the most expensive boroughs outweighed gains seen in the more affordable outer areas.
Romesh Navaratnarajah, Senior Editor at PropertyGuru, edited this story. To contact him about this or other stories, email romesh@propertyguru.com.sg
