House prices in England and Wales ‘remain indestructible’

House prices were at the forefront of the EU debate in the run-up to last year’s referendum, with various experts, including the former chancellor George Osborne, forecasting that home values in the UK would plummet if Britain voted to leave the European Union, and yet, residential property prices increased again in January.

According to the figures from the Land Registry, the average price of a home in the UK increased by 0.8% in January compared with the previous month, and were up 6.2% on a year earlier, taking the average UK home value to £218,255. 

“With only a week to go until Article 50 is triggered – house prices remain indestructible as the average person is paying £13,000 more to own a home than the same time last year, reflecting the health and buoyancy of the UK economy seen in the last few months,” said Paul Smith, CEO of haart estate agents, who added that the figures “certainly chimes” with haart’s own house price data.

In England, the data shows an annual price increase of 6.5% in January which takes the average property value to £234,794. Monthly house prices have risen by 0.7% since December 2016.

Wales saw an annual property price rise of 4.2% which takes the average home value to £145,933, but values fell by 0.6% when compared with December 2016.

On an annual basis, the East of England recorded the largest rise in property values with the average price of a home in the region up 9.4% year-on-year to £279,231.

London experienced the greatest monthly price growth in January with an increase of 3% to £490,718. 

Nick Leeming, chairman of Jackson-Stops & Staff, commented: “Continued house price growth brings home the fact that the undersupply of homes in the face of high demand is a serious problem for affordability, which I hope the housing white paper consultation to be published later this year will offer at least a partial solution to.”

House price growth is being driven in part by a low supply of housing on the market, as housebuilders continue to fail to meet demand from prospective buyers. 

Ishaan Malhi, CEO and founder of online mortgage broker Trussle, said: “Despite recent months showing signs of positive momentum, property transaction levels have started to tail off again.”

Some areas saw home prices fall in January. The North East of England witnessed the lowest annual price growth with an increase of 2.2% taking the local average to £123,781, while Yorkshire and the Humber saw the most significant monthly price fall, with values down 2.6% to an average of £148,458.