As UK house prices soar, sales hit highs last seen in boom years
Housing sales are back at levels last seen at the hight of the boom in 2007, LSL Property Services said today.
Prices have been surging over the past two years, particularly in London.
And the number of sales has now caught up with the booming demand for property.
In July, 90,000 homes were sold in England and Wales, LSL said.
That figure represents a 10 per cent rise on the month, and is partly caused by tougher new mortgage affordability rules – the regulations slowed down sales in April and May, building up more demand which has come through into the market in July.
Such rampant growth in activity could have implications for interest rates. Last year, Bank of England governor Mark Carney reassured markets that the housing boom was not a cause for undue concern as transaction levels were at the time well short of those seen in the pre-crisis era.
The study also found the average price sold in July cost £270,000, up 9.9 per cent on the year.
In London, the average price is now £560,386, a leap of 19 per cent on the year.
And prices are even accelerating – the growth in value has picked up from 16.5 per cent in the 12 months to June.
By borough, Lambeth saw the strongest growth with the average price soaring 38.5 per cent to £584,703.
The next biggest increase came in Kensington and Chelsea where the average property cost £1.99m, up 32 per cent from £1.5m a year ago.
And Waltham Forest saw the third sharpest jump, up 25.8 per cent to £341,678.
The weakest growth came in Barnet, where prices rose by eight per cent on the year to an average of £545,252.