Nationwide House Price Index (May): your views wanted

"Demand and supply have never been as out of sync. "Demand is as strong as stock levels are weak. The result is fevered bidding in the most sought-after areas, with sealed bids the norm. "Flats that have been behind the market in recent months are catching up as the inner cities start to reopen, hopefully in earnest. "Lender support for the self-employed continues to improve, with Santander's decision to ignore COVID-impacted 2020/21 accounts a real boost to people whose businesses are putting the pandemic behind them and returning to BAU (business as usual). "The market looks like it will take the end of furlough in its stride: demand is ahead of supply so any fall-back in demand shouldn't cause any great impact on prices."

"Not only was May one of the wettest on records, the deluge of demand for property last month was equally relentless. "Demand is off the scale and the inevitable upward pressure on prices is making it especially difficult for first-time buyers to get a foothold on the ladder. "Prices are rising so sharply that many first-time buyers are seeing prices accelerate out of their affordability zone. "The Stamp Duty holiday and re-introduction of 95% loan-to-value mortgages have played a massive part in the surge of people buying, but repeated lockdowns have also seen many buyers looking for more space now that working from home has become the new norm. "More needs to be done to help those first-time buyers who are unable to buy their homes because they have had hiccups with credit in the past. "We understand lenders need to be cautious, but the result of that caution is many people remaining stuck paying rents that are substantially higher than mortgage payments."

"The relentless March of the UK property market continued in May, with desperate buyers falling over each other to snap up any new stock in a heartbeat. "First-time buyers are especially keen to move out from under their parents' feet, where they have been for the past year, and are using the savings accrued during lockdown to get onto the ladder. "Any property with a price in reach of first-time buyers is seeing phenomenal demand. "At the other end of the spectrum, things are still speeding along, too. One house locally on for £600,000 had 20 offers on it last week, with little realistic chance of hitting the Stamp Duty deadline. "Frankly, I don't think most buyers are giving the Stamp Duty deadline a second thought at the moment, and that the demand we're seeing is here to stay. "Mortgage availability continues to improve: the Nationwide, for example, will now offer 5.5x income for some applicants, as well as a general easing of criteria. "Self-employed mortgages also seems a bit easier to get now, with brokers very wise to the lenders that have an appetite for self-employed applicants and working around those that don't. "Even when the Stamp Duty holiday is behind us, we're going to keep seeing house prices rise as there is simply not enough available housing for a nation that still aspires to homeownership. Never forget that an Englishman's home is his castle."