UK property buyers are paying record-breaking sums for homes as the average price has risen above £360,000, according to Rightmove.
The price of property coming to market is up by 1.6 percent in the past month, coming to a whopping £360,101.
The property website described a spring market frenzy as homes are selling faster than ever – prices have increased by £5,537 in April with an eye-watering jump of £19,082 in three months.
Despite economic woes elsewhere, the property market is wildly competitive and increasingly expensive.
More than half (53 percent) of properties are selling at or over their final advertised asking price “at the highest levels ever seen”, reported Rightmove.
Their report found that all regions and all market sectors reached new record price highs – for only the second time since 2007.
(Image: Getty Images/iStockphoto)
Rightmove’s analysis shows that properties are meeting 98.9 percent of the final advertised asking price on average in the highest percentage since their records began.
However, the pace that prices are rising this year appears to be tailing off slightly due to affordability constraints and economic headwinds.
There is higher demand for limited supply of properties for sale, suggesting that while price growth may slow down, a sustained price fall is unlikely.
The report said: “Whilst it is normal to see modest seasonal price falls in several months of the second half of the year, with stock remaining at record lows and underlying strong demand, we do not expect these falls to be any more significant than usual this year.”
During this time in 2019, the average time to sell was 67 days.
That number has now drastically dropped to an average of just 33 days before a property is marked as sold subject to contract on Rightmove.
Tim Bannister, Rightmove’s director of property data, said: “With three new monthly price records in a row, 2022 has started with price rise momentum even greater than during the stamp duty holiday-fuelled market of last year.
“While growing affordability constraints mean that this momentum is not sustainable for the longer term, the high demand from a large number of buyers chasing too few properties for sale has led to a spring price frenzy, a hat-trick of record price months, and the largest price increase for a three-month period Rightmove has ever recorded.”
He continued: “The strong momentum has carried over from last year and, combined with the impetus of the spring moving season, has delivered the quickest selling market we’ve ever seen.
“The high speed of the market and competition among buyers when making an onward move will be deterring some owners from putting their homes up for sale.
“However, if you can secure both a quick sale and a quick purchase, then it’s a lot less stressful than the uncertainties of a slower market when finding a buyer for your own home can drag on for months or not happen at all.”
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