Market strength continues to confound analysts
The average price paid for a home in England and Wales in August 2022 was £371,208, up by some £2,675, or 0.7%, on the average price paid in July, the latest e.surv Acadata House Price Index has revealed.
Year-on-year, house prices increased by 12.2% across England and Wales.
The latest house price rise, according to Acadata analysts, underlines the continuing strength of the market and its ongoing ability to confound analysts.
From the start of the pandemic in March 2020 to the end of July 2022, the average house price has increased by some £53,800, or 17.1%.
All 10 GOR areas have also experienced rising prices over the last 12 months, with nine of the 10 areas setting new record average house prices in July 2022. The one exception is Greater London, where prices are £12,650 below their peak. Eight of the regions recorded growth increases of more than 10%.
“Despite recent anecdotal comments to the contrary, objectively at this time, our data records a resilient UK housing market – largely due to the continuing lack of supply of desirable stock and continued demand for it,” Richard Sexton, director at e.surv, said.
Read more: Halifax reveals the latest on UK house prices.
Sexton, however, pointed out that there are some considerations to bear in mind.
“It is likely that, with the current extended completion times in the market, many of the transactions reported were agreed four or five months ago,” he explained. “Therefore, while the headlines show that the market remains resilient, we should acknowledge that some of the current affordability issues facing homeowners may not be reflected in the data yet.
“It remains to be seen what effect that has on subsequent data, and we should also consider the potential positive impact of any new support to address the cost-of-living crisis from the new government. Home-buying is a market built on sentiment and what happens next will fundamentally affect that.”
Sexton added that as work habits continue to evolve and people settle into new ways of living and working, this continues to impact what people buy.
“We think the hybrid method of working from home for most of the week, is driving a revived interest in flats in the central areas of cities like London, which of course changes the mix of properties and values reflected in the index,” he further remarked. “How this plays out over time remains to be seen as many large companies have publicly already reverted to full-time office work.”
The e.surv Acadata House Price Index for England and Wales uses the actual price at which every property in England and Wales was transacted, including prices for properties bought with cash, based on the factual Land Registry data as opposed to mortgage-based prices, asking prices or prices based on samples.
