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Land Registry UK House Prices May 2021

ended 14. July 2021

This morning at 09:30, the May Land Registry (ONS) House Price Index was published. The key points were:

  1. UK average house prices increased by 10.0% over the year to May 2021, up from 9.6% in April 2021.
  2. UK average house prices saw a slight monthly increase (0.9%) in the month to May 2021 to £255,000, nearly returning to the record UK average house price seen in March 2021 (£256,000).
  3. Average house prices increased over the year in England to £271,000 (9.7%), in Wales to £184,000 (13.3%), in Scotland to £171,000 (12.1%) and in Northern Ireland to £149,000 (6.0%).
  4. London continues to be the region with the lowest annual growth (5.2%) for the sixth consecutive month.

Below are views from six experts.

6 responses from the Newspage community

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Scott Taylor-Barr
Financial Adviser at Barnsdale Financial Management
"The Stamp Duty holiday drove annual price growth into double digit territory in May. There was a mad rush of people trying to complete before the end of June to secure the valuable savings on offer. July has already seen a marked drop in activity levels, as for many the Stamp Duty boat has now sailed. "Moving forward, I think we'll see a cooling of the housing market, with prices plateauing. This may be no bad thing after the price rises of the past year."
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Rob Gill
Managing Director at Altura Mortgage Finance
"Much like Richard Branson's rocket plane, the property market continues to soar, fuelled by record-low mortgage rates and ongoing momentum from last year's 'blast-off' of the Stamp Duty holiday. "Whether the property market will land as gracefully as Virgin Galactic, plummet to earth, or just keep on going to the moon, is a forecast beyond even rocket scientists."
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Iain Swatton
Head of Intermediaries at Dashly.com
"Property prices these days are like a broken record: ever rising, and it's a lack of supply and huge demand that's turbo-charging the market. "This hasn't changed in months, even with the first phase of the Stamp Duty deadline now behind us. Buyers, particularly those on the hunt for their first home, are still buying no matter what it takes, aided by the many incentives still available for generation rent. "Until a significant number of new homes are built, it's hard to see high house prices being anything other than the status quo for the remainder of this year at least."
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Thomas Honour
Director at Thomas Honour Mortgage Services
"It's no secret that the Stamp Duty holiday powered the growth of the property market in May and for much of the past year. This, coupled with rock bottom interest rates on mortgages, has created a dream scenario for homebuyers. "Activity has cooled somewhat in recent weeks with many potential sellers holding firm to see what happens with house prices before going on the market. "It's unlikely house prices will fall back to pre-Stamp Duty holiday levels any time soon. This is due to demand sharply outstripping supply. Houses are still being snapped up within days and buyers are needing to pay full asking price or more in order to beat off the competition. "Despite expectations from many that prices would drop after the Stamp Duty holiday, they are likely to remain high in the South East as long there are more buyers than there are homes."
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Paul Neal
Mortgages & Equity Release Advisor at First Choice Financial Services
"Since mad May, the market has definitely cooled down as many people resigned themselves to missing out on the first phase of the Stamp Duty holiday, and have been trying to figure out if their summer holiday is on the amber list or not. "However, the remaining Stamp Duty savings are still valuable for some and we are still seeing first-time buyers scrambling to try and secure a home and take advantage of the low rates available. "We're hoping to see some stability in the market to give buyers a chance of viewing a property before it's sold. A plateau in prices is more likely than the bottom falling out of the market, as mortgage rates are too low for that to happen and supply too restricted. People are also now accepting that Stamp Duty is back with vengeance from October."
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Robert Payne
Director at Langley House Mortgages
"The market has seen a substantial amount of growth over the past 12 months, and there's no sign yet of any backward steps. Activity has calmed down since the Stamp Duty deadline in June but buyers remain eager to purchase from the reduced pool of properties for sale. "It appears that the Stamp Duty holiday was more of an added bonus to an already buoyant market rather than the driving force, as there is still an abundance of buyers out there. Perhaps the impact of Covid is the main driver behind increased demand as more people work from home and there's less of a need to live close to cities. We have seen a number of Londoners relocating to the South West to take advantage of cheaper house prices and a slower pace of life."