Homebuyers have become used to house prices continually going up over the last couple of years, but they might be surprised to hear the average property value in the UK has now reached £283,000.
According to the latest figures from the Office for National Statistics, this is an increase of £32,000 over the last 12 months, having risen by 12.8 per cent from May 2021 to May 2022.
It reported that typical prices were £302,000 in England, £212,000 in Wales, £188,000 in Scotland, and £165,000 in Northern Ireland, with Wales having the largest annual growth rate of 14.4 per cent.
House prices have been soaring since the second half of 2020 when estate agents were allowed to open their doors again, following the national lockdown of the pandemic.
“This trend continued into 2021, and has house price growth has remained strong since the start of 2022,” ONS revealed.
In 2020, a Stamp Duty holiday was announced to encourage more people back to the market, with this coming to an end by October last year. However, the demand for properties remains strong, which is why house prices have not dropped since then.
Russell Galley, managing director from Halifax, also noted that: “Property prices so far appear to have been largely insulated from the cost-of-living squeeze.”
The rising cost of petrol, energy bills and food supplies has yet to dampen demand for properties for sale in the UK.
However, he anticipated the market “will not remain immune from the challenging economic environment”.
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