"House prices are steadily balancing to meet the needs of house buyers which is welcome news for those looking to take their first steps onto the property ladder."
The North West, East Midlands, South West and Wales all recorded new peak average prices in the month. The North West saw annual growth of 4.6%, and was one of four regions to see new peak prices in January along with the East Midlands, the South West and Wales.
Annually, however, price growth continued to slow, slipping to 0.6% from 0.7% in January 2018. The South East and London, however, weigh on the market, with annual prices up 2.5% excluding those regions.
Yet even an annual growth rate of 2.5% is far below the peak of 6.7% recorded two years ago (or 9% including the capital and South East, which were then powering growth in the market).
Oliver Blake, managing director of Your Move, said: “When examining the bigger picture, house prices are steadily balancing to meet the needs of house buyers which is welcome news for those looking to take their first steps onto the property ladder.
"However, housing supply in the UK isn’t meeting demand and there is still a bottleneck of available properties. The industry needs to work together to provide a long-term solution to increase movement within the market. By building more homes and introducing more initiatives for each stage of the property lifecycle we should start to see more choice for first time buyers, second steppers and lasttime buyers.”
