The latest data from Halifax has shown that house prices in the last three months to April were 2.2% higher than when compared to the same period a year earlier.

Russell Galley, Managing Director, Halifax, said: “We’ve seen annual house price growth ease from 2.7% in March to 2.2% in April. House prices in the three months to April were 0.1% lower than the previous three months. Both the quarterly and annual rates have fallen since reaching a recent peak last autumn, with these measures providing a more stable indication of the underlying trend than the monthly change.

Housing demand has softened in the early months of 2018, with both mortgage approvals and completed home sales edging down. Housing supply – as measured by the stock of homes for sale and new instructions – is also still very low. However, the UK labour market is performing strongly with unemployment continuing to fall and wage growth finally picking up. These factors should help to ease pressure on household finances and as a result we expect annual price growth will remain in our forecast range 0-3% this year.”

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Latest data from Lloyds Bank Private Banking, had shown the number of properties sold for more than a million pounds in Great Britain grew by 5% in 2017 compared to 2016

Key Findings

• 14,474 homes worth more than a million pounds were sold; up from 13,748 in 2016.
• Over the last ten years the number of million pound house sales across Great Britain has increased dramatically, up by almost three quarters (73%) since 2007.
• More than half (57%) of all million pound property sales took place in London last year.

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Last Autumn Chancellor Philip Hammond announced that by the mid 2020s, an extra 300,000 homes would be built annually to try and tackle the housing crisis this would need an investment of at least £44 billion over the next 5 years.

In released Spring Statement 2018 has there was no new major announcements but offers a few more initiatives.

The Spring Statement outlined new investments plans:

• An investment of £1.67 billion to build 22,000 new homes by 2021/22 in London to tackle the housing crisis.
• 215,000 new homes to be built by 2031 in the West Midlands facilitated by a £100 million grant from the land remediation fund.
• Additionally, the House Growth Partnership was doubled to £220 million in order to support the smaller household builders.

The government highlighted some infrastructure development projects including:

• Manor Cluster in Sheffield, where £3.6 million of funding for drainage works, new roads and footpaths will help unlock more than 400 homes by 2025.

• Ashton Green in Leicester, where 3,300 homes are in the pipeline following a £10 million investment for new roads.

• Botley in Hampshire, where 1,000 properties will now be constructed due to a by-pass.

• Ilfracombe Southern Extension in Devon where 750 new homes can be unlocked thanks to £6.5 million funding for a new primary school.

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Nationwide latest house price report shows a slight increase in annual house price growth 0.2% on the month – picking up to 2.6%.

Robert Gardner, Nationwide’s Chief Economist, commented on the figures: “There was a slight pickup in UK annual house growth in April to 2.6%, from 2.1% in March. House prices rose by 0.2% over the month, after taking account of seasonal factors.

February saw a softening in house purchase approvals to 64,000 cases, following a surprise rise in January. These figures are broadly in line with our expectations and close to the average for the last three months of 2017. Surveyors continue to report subdued levels of new buyer enquiries and recent months have also seen a softening in new instructions.

Looking ahead, much will depend on how broader economic conditions evolve, especially in the labour market, but also with respect to interest rates. Subdued economic activity and the ongoing squeeze on household budgets is likely to continue to exert a modest drag on housing market activity and house price growth this year. We continue to expect house prices to rise by around 1% over the course of 2018.

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 Rightmove, has revealed that new property coming to market are now at highest ever asking prices

Key Findings

• The new record of £305,732 is £789, or 0.3%, higher than the previous record of £304,943 set in July 2017.
• North West saw the strongest annual rate of price increase at 4.3%
• East Midlands (4.2%)
• Yorkshire & the Humber (2.7%)
• South West (2.6%)
• Wales (2.4%)
• East of England (1.2%).

Miles Shipside, Rightmove director and housing market analyst, commented: “Home buyers are seeing average asking prices at their highest ever level with upwards price pressure getting stronger the further away you move from London. However, higher prices stretch buyers’ willingness to pay or ability to afford them. This month’s increase of 0.4% is the lowest at this time of year since 2008, though the subdued figure could partly be a rebalancing from the seasonally large 1.5% rise the previous month. The earlier Easter Bank Holidays and heavy snow disrupting property marketing will also have an effect on like-for-like comparisons with last year.”

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Latest research from Halifax has shown that nearly 18% of UK local areas have seen average house prices increase by more than total average pay over the last two years.

Key Findings

• House prices in Barnet in London exceeded average take-home earnings in the area by £52,256, the highest in the country and equating to £2,177 per month.
• North Hertfordshire in the East of England (£40,903), the only place outside London and the South East out of the top ten area

Russell Galley, Managing Director at Halifax, said: “Over the past two years, we have seen house price growth and earnings converge at a national level, leading to a drop in the total number of areas where the average house price rise is greater than owners’ take-home earnings.

Despite the slowdown in house price growth in southern England, it has still outpaced wages across most of the region. This means that middle earners are also facing a challenge getting on to the property ladder.”

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The latest data from Halifax has revealed that house prices in the last three months to March were 2.7% higher than in the same three months a year earlier

Key Findings

• The average price in March was £227,871.
• House prices in the latest quarter (January-March) were -0.1% lower than in the preceding three months (October-December)
• On a monthly basis, prices grew by 1.5% in March this follows a 0.5% rise in February

Russell Galley, Managing Director, Halifax, said: “House prices in the three months to March were largely unchanged compared with the previous quarter. The annual rate of growth continues to be in a narrow range of under 3%; though the average price of £227,871 is a new high.

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Below are some highlights of the latest and in our opinion some of the best investment opportunities currently available in London and UK.

• Westminster – Walking distance to the Houses of Parliament – Up to 4 years off plan
• Sloane Square – Build completed and tenanted (In my opinion best £perSqft new build developments in this prime London location)
• Putney and Caledonian Road (Near Kings Cross) – Established areas and recently released London Zone 2 off plan opportunities (Prices Starting from £585,000)
• East London Zone 2 and 3 – Excellent regeneration areas with billions pounds worth of inward investments planned, (Prices starting from under £500,000)
• Commuter sites to London – Great transport links into London (Prices from £300,000)
• High Yielding build complete UK Manchester Freehold houses from UK’s largest home builder (Smuts and Taylor Prices from £170,000)

If you would like any further information on the above please get into contact with us to get the full details

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While we have seen a tentative start to the year, investors have shown that they are still willing to buy into the solid fundamentals and relative value that’s currently on offer in London and further afield. We expect them to continue to do so as the outcome of Brexit and the current political uncertainty become clearer. In this instance however, the rising tide will not lift all ships and investors should ensure that they have both up to date market insight, as well as area specific data to hand when making their buying decision.

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London asking prices increased by £4,000 between February and March 2018, a monthly rise of 0.6 per cent. However, homeowners remain reluctant to put their homes on the market as year-on-year asking prices continued to drop for the seventh month running, defying the traditional spring sales surge.

New seller numbers were three per cent lower this month than they were a year ago, at a time of year when homeowners usually rush to put their properties up for sale. This is because house prices in the capital remain subdued, with the average London asking price 0.6 per cent lower than in March 2017 at £632,000, according to property website Rightmove.

London’s best-performing borough was Bexley, where the average asking price was £409,400, up three per cent on the same period in 2017. This south-east London borough stretches from part of Abbey Wood, where a Crossrail station is due to open this autumn, down to Sidcup, which has become a first-time buyer hotspot thanks to its relative affordability and half-hour commute to central London.

Hounslow, which stretches from Chiswick to the borders of Heathrow airport, saw the second highest percentage price increase, rising 2.6 per cent in a year to £562,000.

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