August’s property market analysis

From ‘boil to simmer’ is how house price growth has been described by one property portal, who published its latest House Price Index in July. Rightmove’s newest report chose to focus on the rate at which house prices are now rising, rather than by how much.

House prices continue to edge up

The point of note is that values are still increasing. The average price of a property coming to market now stands at £369,968 – up 0.4% in July (equivalent to £1,354) and similar to the 0.3% price increase seen in June 2022. To put the 0.4% rise into context, however, house prices rose 2.1% in April 2021 at the peak of stamp duty holiday and ‘race for space’.

The continuation of house price rises is best illustrated when comparing Rightmove’s 2019 figures with those from 2022. Although the number of new sellers coming to market now is up 13% compared to 2021, the number of available properties to buy is still 40% down on 2019. In addition, buyer demand has increased by 26% when comparing today’s level to that in June 2019.  

It is this comparison that has led Rightmove to revise its 2022 house price forecast to say prices will have risen in Great Britain by 7% this year – up from 5% – with the supply and demand imbalance underpinning marginal house price rises, even in economically uncertain times. 

95% of homeowners see values rise

Ongoing house price rises will ensure that Zoopla’s newly-released, post-pandemic figures will also need revising. The portal found that 95% of homeowners have seen the value of their house rise since March 2020, with £50,000 added to almost 9.4 million homes. With the UK’s average property seeing a 15% rise in value since the pandemic, the overall value of UK homes has nudged just over the £10 trillion mark for the first time ever.

New tenancies costing more than ever

In the lettings sector, a persistent lack of available rental properties and growing demand is also behind yet another month of rent rises. Rightmove’s Rental Trends Tracker for Q2 of 2022 revealed UK tenants are now paying an average of £1,126 per month to rent a property. In the last three months alone, asking rents have increased 3.5% – the second highest jump in 10 years. 

In light of sustained demand and the slow pace at which new rentals are coming to market, the property portal has also revised its rent rise forecast. Rightmove now predicts rental value growth of 8% to be achieved by the end of 2022 – up from 5% – which presents an interesting proposition for would-be and existing landlords.

If you would like to know how the pandemic and current price rises have affected your home’s value, contact us today. We’d be happy to provide a free, no-obligation valuation with a view to selling or renting out.