The current house price index from Rightmove shows that the average asking price for a house in the UK soared upwards again last month, increasing by a further 1.7%.
It means that the average price being sought by those selling a home has now exceeded £350,000, with March bringing the sharpest rise in asking prices for a single month since the same period eight years ago. Rightmove has indicated that the sheer lack of available houses to buy in the UK market is enabling sellers to ask for ever-higher prices for their properties and that this situation is the worst it has ever encountered.
The Smartr365 CEO Conor Murphy backed this assessment when talking to Financial Reporter about the latest house price index figures, but pointed out that expected interest rate rises were also a contributory factor.
He then went on to add that:
“Spurred by the threat of costlier rates later in the year, prospective buyers are choosing to bite the bullet and complete home purchases, but in doing so continue to pay record high prices due to the short supply of available properties.”
In conclusion, Murphy argued that the housing market inflation should ease off later in 2022 but that, in the meantime, mortgage advisors should focus their energies on channelling the demand that exists among prospective buyers.
As any who have done CeMAP mortgage advisor training will be particularly aware, it will be important to help clients to complete purchases while the rates for mortgage products are still relatively low.
