UK houses stay in the property market for 80 days

The average UK house prices rose 1.7% in March from £235,741 in February to reach £239,710, according to Rightmove house price index, marking the highest ever new seller asking prices in the month of March. The average house prices in the UK have scaled to reach the highest level since October 2012 when it was £243,168. The UK house prices rose 1.2% on an annualised basis up from £236,939 in March 2012. The rise in house prices continues from February when the asking rates registered a 2.8% rise, the highest rise since February 2008.

The strongest monthly performance on a regional basis was registered by the South East where the house prices rose 4.2% from £215,037 in February to £215,120. The West Midlands was the only region to experience a decline in average property prices in March, as prices fell 0.5% from £186,094 in February to £185,942. Of the 40,000 respondents, 60% expect property prices to be roughly the same this time next year while 23% predict prices will be higher. A minority of 11% expect prices will be lower.

The average time that properties are spending on the property market are 80 days, which is less than 90 in March 2012. Rightmove’s director and housing market analyst Miles Shipside said, “In today’s turbulent world where economic crises seem more likely to re-appear than disappear, any market upturn will take longer to build home-mover confidence to the point that it starts to feed through to actual transactions. Even those who truly believe that the market has turned a corner may be unable to do anything about it due to lenders’ cautious risk profiling, a significant factor limiting the speed and strength of the recovery. However, with new sellers asking more than ever before as we enter the traditionally busy spring market and an expectation among home-movers of price stability or growth, there is now a bedrock upon which confidence and momentum appear to be building.”