House prices rise again in May
The UK housing market gained further momentum in May as average prices rose again month-on-month, according to Nationwide building society, who reported a 0.4pc rise.
This comes just ten days after Rightmove reported that the average price of a London property had surpassed the £500,000 mark. Although the average price across the whole of the UK is far lower at £167,912, this has been steadily increasing and is 1.1pc higher than prices 12 months ago.
This is the highest year-on-year house price increase recorded since November 2011, while property sales were also said to be up around 5pc on a monthly basis compared to the same periods in 2012.
According to Nationwide’s chief economist, Robert Gardner, there are a number of contributing factors that are helping the property market to gain strength.
“There has been an improvement in the availability and a reduction in the cost of credit, partly as a result of policy measures, such as the Funding for Lending scheme.
“With the UK returning to growth in the first quarter of 2013, the improvement in wider economic conditions may also be playing a role in boosting sentiment”, he said.
Funding for Lending allows banks to offer cheaper loans to consumers. The Government issues the banks with cheaper credit as long as they commit to passing this onto consumers, who will in turn use the money to strengthen economic growth by purchasing property or investing in business.
However, despite the fact that the property market has continued to gain momentum from the start of 2013, there are warnings that we are not yet out of the woods. Inflation is still high and putting pressure on UK households, while employment and wage increases for employees are slow, meaning disposable incomes are still low.
Share this..
Related stories
UK government puts aside £388 million for housing projects
The UK government has today confirmed that £388 million has been put aside to provide funding to 115 private sector housing projects in England. The "Kickstart scheme" has begun with a £62 million payment to an array of private sector developers who had been caught short by the recession and were forced to mothball some of their developments. So what does this mean for the industry?
Read More
Is the UK property market dead?
As the UK property market continues to come under severe pressure and head downwards there are many people suggesting that the market may not recover for anything up to 10 years. However, these are probably the very same people who believed that the boom times in the UK property market would continue indefinitely and never saw the current recession arriving on the UK shores. So is the UK property...
Read MoreUK authorities issue confusing house price data
The UK government has today indicated that the average property price in the UK fell by just over 10% during 2008. This is a sharp increase on the 8.5% fall in the year to November 2008 and compares less favourably against more recent house price indications from the property sector. However, the figure does show that the UK property sector is in sharp decline and even a suggested small increase i...
Read MoreUK property prices fell 2% in February
The Land Registry has today revealed a 2% fall in house prices last month with the average UK home now valued at £153,862. This is the 18th consecutive fall in property values across the UK with a year-on-year fall of 16.5%. While the situation does vary across the country, with prices in the North West falling by 4.1% against just 1% in the South West and Yorkshire, there is no doubt that the UK...
Read MoreMore People Looking Overseas Than Ever Before
As the cost of living in the UK continues to rise, with many suggesting that there is little chance of it falling back in the short term, it seems that more and more of the UK population are looking overseas. While areas such as Europe have been a regular favourite with UK expats, it seems that many may now be branching out to countries in South America.
Property prices in the UK h...