Buy To Let
House sales recover by 10% in July – LSL
House sales across England and Wales rose by 10% in July to 90,000 as the market recovered from April’s regulatory changes laid out in the Mortgage Market Review (MMR).
The figures represent a 21% year-on-year rise in property sales, the highest monthly total since November 2007.
Flats are the most common property of choice attracting first-time buyer interest as well as drawing the eye of investors.
In Q2 flat sales rose by 36% compared to the same period last year.
But chequered supply across the country has created considerable regional variation in sales.
London and the South East have seen the slowest growth in house sales between Q2 2013 and Q2 2014 as the limited availability of property impacts sales.
Elsewhere, lower prices and the stimulus of Help to Buy are aiding activity.
The biggest boost in sales during April-June 2014 was found in the North West and East Midlands, increasing by a third (32%) on the same period last year.
LSL’s property data puts the average house price at £270,636 which it said is largely driven by the capital and the South East. The average house price inside London has now risen to £560,386 following a 2% monthly rise.
Meanwhile the Halifax House Price Index showed the average house price to be £186,322.
David Brown (pictured), commercial director of LSL, said: “After a temporary waning of growth in the London market, 24 boroughs have set new peak prices. In Kensington and Chelsea average house prices are on track to surpass the £2m mark. However, a dampening of sales activity and more supply starting to come to the market will help control house price inflation in London”
Brown said housing policy should not be led astray by what is happening in prime central London.
If London and the South East are removed from the equation the annual change in average houses prices drops by 5.3% to 4.6%.
Average prices in Northamptonshire, Bournemouth, and Wiltshire rose in June as the housing recovery started to spread.
Outside of London, the South East and East Midlands, prices dropped and stabilised across all other seven regions in June.
Brown said: “A more thoughtful and prudent housing market is emerging. Lending is stabilising to sustainable levels and supply and demand is more balanced.
“Further interventions or tighter rules could fracture the health of the recovery, particularly further afield where schemes like Help to Buy are a necessary tonic spurring new buyers onto the housing ladder.”
