"Despite the global pandemic, the housing market was able to thrive last year and there are still those who have not yet made their purchase."
The average UK house price was £271,000 in November, £25,000 higher than November 2020.
Average house prices increased over the year in by 9.8% England, 12.1% in Wales, 11.4% in Scotland, and 10.7% in Northern Ireland.
The South West was the region with the highest annual house price growth, with average prices increasing by 12.9% in the year to November 2021.
London continues to be the region with the lowest annual growth at 5.1%.
Kevin Roberts, director at Legal & General Mortgage Club, commented: “The end of the stamp duty holiday clearly hasn’t done much to dampen demand in the housing market. Buyers are still being influenced by mortgage rates that remain low, but also the ongoing impact of the Covid-19 crisis. Many are continuing to take the opportunity to move, whether it’s to find larger properties, or those with home office space or a garden.
“Despite high levels of demand and little change in the housing supply, predicting the trajectory of the housing market in 2022 is not a simple task. Growing inflation and potential further base rate rises in the near future, mean the landscape is looking increasingly complex."
Mark Harris, chief executive of mortgage broker SPF Private Clients, said: "There is further speculation that the Bank of England will raise interest rates by 0.5 per cent at its February meeting in order to counter rising inflation, and it remains to be seen what impact this will have on buyer confidence.
"Despite the global pandemic, the housing market was able to thrive last year and there are still those who have not yet made their purchase. Squeezed affordability would be an issue, preventing first-time buyers in particular from getting on the ladder, but the Bank will be mindful that as we come out of a pandemic, a succession of significant rate increases could be extremely damaging to the wider economy.
"Low mortgage rates have been one of the contributing factors to the housing boom and although some lenders are tweaking mortgage rates upwards on the back of higher money market rates, pricing remains competitive."
