House Prices Increase to 5.8% from January to February

According to the Office for National Statistics, house prices in the UK rose by 0.5% from 5.3% in January to 5.8% in February.

It comes as figures from banking providers such as Nationwide have indicated that they think the growth in house prices is slowing down, showing signs that the economy is taking steps to repair the property market.

The figures show that the average price of a property in the UK amounts to £217,502; a £12,000 increase on the average from 2016.

Unsurprisingly, London was the region with the most expensive properties with the average price being £475,000. The most expensive borough to live in was Kensington and Chelsea, where the average price was a staggering £1.4 million.

Regions towards the Eastern tip of England experiencing an average 10.3% uplift year-on-year but despite this large jump, North-East regions are experiencing growth on the other end of the spectrum. Here, prices are rising by just 2.2%; a dramatic difference.

Properties in Scotland have seen a 3.1% increase over the previous year, whereas Northern Ireland has experienced a 5.7% increase over the same period.

These slower property prices align with the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) reported a strong borrowing trend throughout the first two periods of this year. They mentioned that borrowing throughout this period was the strongest it had been for ten years:

“Seasonal factors traditionally keep the market quieter in winter months, but 2017 began relatively strong on the house purchase side. Borrowers took out more loans to purchase a home in the first two months of 2017 than any year since 2007.”

CML reported that more loans were taken out during this period (£93,200) than there was in the financial crisis.

An increase in the number of people purchasing their first property was a factor in this, along with the fact that a decreasing number of homeowners require a new mortgage.