The property market is rebounding, with an uptick in the number of buyers and sellers resulting in more sales this February.
House sales agreed in London are up 16% annually, according to Zoopla, more than double the UK average, with only the North East of England seeing a high number of sales at 17%.
The latest Zoopla House Price Index shows that the number of homes for sale are a fifth (21%) higher than a year ago, with buyer demand also up 11% and – crucially – sales agreed 15% higher than this time last year.
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Agreed sales jumped as demand from buyers was up by 11% and the number of homes for sale 21% higher than a year ago. House prices slipped 0.5% compared to a year earlier.
The average London house price is now £534,600, over twice that of the national average of £263,600.
In the Southern England regions – covering the Eastern, South East and South West regions, outside London – the average home price now sits at £344,000, 30% above the UK average.
Across the rest of the UK house price growth has slowed a lot over the last year, but in areas where house prices are at or below average, prices have not generally been falling.
“The housing market has proved very resilient to higher mortgage rates and cost of living pressures,” said Zoopla executive director Richard Donnell.
“More sales and more sellers show growing confidence amongst households and evidence that 4-5% mortgage rates are not a barrier to improving market conditions.
“The momentum in new sales being agreed has been building for the last five months and the sales market is on track for 1.1m sales over 2024 supported by new sellers coming to the market.
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“While sales are set to increase, we don’t expect house price growth to accelerate further in 2024.”
Zoopla said that the 1.1 million homes it expects to sell this year are approximately 10% more than in 2023.
While mortgage rates are falling in anticipation of the Bank of England cutting its base interest rate later this year, borrowers should still expect 4% to 5% rates over much of the year, Zoopla said.
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