UK house prices push higher

House prices edged higher in March, government data showed on Wednesday, as the UK market continued to recover.

According to the latest UK House Price Index, released by the HM Land Registry, house prices rose by 0.7% on average on February 2024.

Year-on-year, prices were 1.8% higher, reversing February’s 0.2% dip.

As a result, the value of an average property in the UK now stands at £283,000.

The UK housing market was rocked by record inflation, surging borrowing costs and the cost of living crisis, as well as an ongoing supply squeeze.

While interest rates remain at a 16-year high, falling inflation has helped boost household incomes in recent months

However, Wednesday’s smaller-than-expected fall in inflation has dampened expectations for an imminent cut to the cost of borrowing.

Consumer price inflation fell to 2.3% in April, above than the 2.1% widely forecast.

According to the UK HPI, prices rose 0.5% in England, although London bucked the trend, with prices falling 0.9% month-on-month and 3.4% year-on-year.

In Wales, house prices rose by 0.9% month-on-month, and by 1.4% in Scotland. Separate data for Northern Ireland was not available.

Private rents, meanwhile, rose by 8.9% in the 12 months to April, according to provisional data released by the Office for National Statistics, down from 9.2% in march.

The UK HPI, which is based on completed housing transactions, is compiled using data supplied by HM Land Registry, Registers of Scotland, Land & Property Services/Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency and the Valuation Office Agency.

It typically takes between six and eight weeks to reach completion, HM Land Registry noted.

Stephen Perkins, managing director at Yellow Brick Mortgages, said: "The overall property market is steady, with pent up demand building and growing levels of stock for sale. People have recalibrated to the new rate environment.

"The market is ready to explode when the Bank of England lights the fuse, but the latest set of inflation data may mean it keeps the match in its box for now."