House prices rise again, according to ONS
13/08/2013
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) has again reported a house price rise in the UK, as Government schemes continue to strengthen the property market.
This is backed up by the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (Rics), which has said that prices are now rising at the fastest rate since their peak in 2006.
Average house prices rose by 0.4pc in June compared to the previous month, meaning the increase year-on-year is now 3.1pc, and for the third month in a row prices have increased faster than the headline rate of inflation across the whole economy.
Rics has said that a combination of Government initiatives, including Help to Buy and Funding for Lending, have helped the housing market to “turn a corner” since the recession severely damaged the whole economy.
Even though a recovery has been apparent for a while, Rics has said that July was a month where the performance of the market was particularly strong. The group said: “Since the start of the year buyers have been gradually returning to test the market – thanks in no small part to Government finance initiatives – yet the amount of would-be buyers seen in July saw a sizeable peak”.
Expectancy for the market and forecasts are now both being raised, as results continue to grow in strength.
“It is looking ever more likely that house prices will see marked increases over the rest of 2013 and 2014, with the result that we raised our house price forecasts”, said chief UK economist at IHS Global Insight, Howard Archer.
Lenders are able to offer cheaper loans to potential buyers after Chancellor George Osborne launched schemes to boost the housing market. This has meant that an increasing amount of people are choosing to borrow money to buy property and the market is continuing to grow in strength.
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