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Annual house price growth tops 5% in September

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  • 28/10/2015
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Annual house price growth tops 5% in September
The annual change in house prices totalled 5.3% in September, bringing the average property value in England and Wales to £186,553, Land Registry data shows.

According to the Land Registry’s House Price Index for September, prices were up 1% on August, with London seeing the biggest jump in prices both on an annual and monthly basis, at 9.6% and 1.8%, respectively. The average price of a property in London now stands at £499,997.

The North East was the only region to experience a decrease in house prices, with the average property value dropping 0.3% since August, and sitting 0.3% lower than September last year. Prices in the North East are the lowest in England and Wales at £99,559.

John Eastgate, sales and marketing director of OneSavings Bank, said the figures showed that house prices were bouncing back from what seemed to be a market that was moderating.

“Year-on-year price increases had slowed over the summer, so these numbers reverse that trend and as long as the scales remain heavily tipped toward demand over supply, continued growth is fairly certain in the long term,” he added.

“Little respite then for first-time buyers, who struggle with the need to match higher house prices with larger deposits. Strong mortgage lending figures have so far been supported by year-on-year growth in remortgage activity, so this acceleration in house price inflation may yet further impact on the purchase market.”

While house price activity was buoyant in September, the data showed that the number of property transactions has dropped over the last year. There was an average of 71,766 sales per month during April 2015 to July 2015, a fall on the 78,330 transactions recorded during the same period last year.

Data on sales volumes and repossessions for August and September are not included in the Land Registry’s current report.

The report said that volatility in prices was greater in areas where recorded sales volumes were low, which included the City of London, Rutland and Merthyr Tydfil.

In July, the number of properties sold for over £1m in England and Wales dropped by 9% to 1,413 from 1,555 in July last year. Sales volumes were greatest for properties priced between £250,001 and £300,000, rising by 33% since July last year.

Repossession volumes continued their downward trend in the months April to July, to average 519 per month, compared with 932 per month during the same period last year.

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