The region in England and Wales which experienced the greatest increase in its average property value over the last 12 months is London with a movement of 5 per cent. The East Midlands experienced the greatest monthly rise with a movement of 2 per cent. The region with the greatest annual price fall is Yorkshire & The Humber with a decrease of 2.2 per cent, while the East saw the most significant monthly price fall with a decrease of 0.7 per cent.
The most up-to-date figures available show that during March 2013, the number of completed house sales in England and Wales decreased by 15 per cent to 52,090 compared with 61,334 in March 2012. The number of properties sold in England and Wales for over £1 million in March 2013 increased by 21 per cent to 625 from 517 in March 2012.
All regions saw repossessions decrease between March 2012 and March 2013 - there were 1,448 repossessions in England and Wales during March 2013. The region with the greatest fall in the number of repossessions was the North East where repossessions dropped by 39 per cent (March 2013 compared with March 2012).
Paul Hunt, managing director of Phoebus Software said:
“Although the route to a full recovery is still blocked by a whole row of economic barriers, house prices are inching up – by 0.1% over May and by 0.5% compared to a year ago – which shows the mortgage market is riding the choppy waves of the economy pretty well. The lending picture is brightening up thanks to the small but significant progress being made, thanks mainly to Funding for Lending, with the Help to Buy scheme supporting act. Lenders are constrained in more ways than one: they must remain cautious due to financial restraints resulting in a shortage of mortgage finance for lower income borrowers. But there’s a big improvement in the availability of attractive mortgage offers on the market, thanks to lenders’ positive approach to lending and that’s helping to boost competition across the board. Hopefully the government’s Help To Buy and FLS should provide an extra stimulus to the mortgage market this year that will feed into healthy house prices.”
David Brown, commercial director of LSL Property Services, comments:
“Prices are buoyant, which is good for homeowners. But rising house prices are keeping more first-time buyers anchored in the rental market. With wage growth weak, savings rates low, and inflation high, many of them can only dream of building a deposit big enough to own their first home. Rising house prices only make that dream more distant.
“The Land Registry’s own figures confirm the impact of higher prices, as transactions fell in March – when current price rises started in earnest. While Help-to-Buy will have some advantages, it will favour the best-off tenants, who are able to build bigger deposits and more likely to get a mortgage. Luckily, the private rented sector is picking up the slack. Landlords now provide homes for 18% of the UK’s population and rents have defied much of the volatility seen in house prices. Falling repossessions is a good sign that bad loans are working their way out of the system – but there will be very few good loans to replace them until potential buyers see their wages rise much faster.”
