Average UK house prices surpass £300,000 for first time, Rightmove says

The average house price in England and Wales has passed an average of £300,000 for the first time in March, according to Rightmove on Monday.

Driven by increases in central, South West and North East England, the average asking price for homes rose 7.6% year-on-year to £303,190 this month from £299,287 in February.

Asking prices for homes in London were flat compared to February but 11% higher compared to the same month last year. The average price of a home was £644,045.

Average prices in England’s South West came to £292,251 while the South East reached £399,680, the East was £326,836, the West Midlands was £204,140 and the North West was £177,437.

Asking prices in the East Midlands stood at £189,819 and in Wales prices hit £174,046.

Rightmove said the new record prices across the UK were being driven by momentum in the north and west of the country, rather than in London, which has previously been the biggest driver.

“While the start of 2016 has seen an encouraging but modest up-tick in the number of properties coming to market, demand and momentum have combined to push prices over £300,000,” said Rightmove director Miles Shipside.

“On average, 30,000 properties have come to market each week over the past month, up by 3% on this time last year, but there are insufficient numbers of newly listed properties in many parts of the country to meet demand.”

Visits to the Rightmove website rose 14% in early March compared to the same period in 2015, he added.

Some analysts have suggested that demand has surged ahead of the 3% increase in stamp duty for buy-to-let investors and second home owners on 1 April.

Shipside said first-time buyers and existing home owners who want to want to buy a bigger place are struggling amid stricter mortgage lending rules and average earnings falling well behind the pace of house price growth.

"However, stronger growth in average earnings would not have helped the situation, as it would simply have enabled buyers to bid prices up even higher, chasing the limited supply of suitable housing stock,” he said.