Average UK house price increased by nearly £900 in April
Halifax recorded a 0.3% month-on-month price rise in April, following a 0.5% monthly fall in March.
The annual house price growth rate ticked up to 3.2% in April, from 2.9% in March, Halifax said.
The average property price in April was £297,781, up from £296,899 in March.
Amanda Bryden, head of mortgages, Halifax, said: 'UK house prices rose by 0.3% in March, an increase of just under £900.
(PA Graphics)
'We know the stamp duty changes prompted a surge in transactions in the early part of this year, as buyers rushed to beat the tax-rise deadline.
'However, this didn't lead to a significant increase in property prices, with the last six months characterised by a stability in prices rarely seen since the pandemic.'
Halifax's figures are in contrast to Nationwide Building Society's latest house price index, released last week.
Nationwide reported that house price growth had softened, with prices dipping by 0.6% month on month in April and price growth also slowing on an annual basis, at 3.4% in April, down from 3.9% in March.
Stamp duty 'nil rate' bands have become less generous from April, with some buyers facing higher costs for moving home. Stamp duty applies in England and Northern Ireland.
Ms Bryden said 'modest price growth' is expected this year, adding: 'Overall, the market continues to show resilience, despite a subdued economic environment and risks from geopolitical developments.'
Looking across the UK, Halifax recorded strong house price growth in Northern Ireland, Wales and Scotland, with a more subdued picture in south-west England and London.
Nathan Emerson, chief executive of property professionals' body Propertymark, said of the Halifax figures: 'This is a sign of sustained confidence in the UK's housing market following a recent stamp duty surge in home buying, and it should give those sellers hoping to take advantage of the traditionally busier spring and summer months motivation to move up the housing ladder.'
Iain McKenzie, chief executive of the Guild of Property Professionals, said: 'We're seeing mortgage rates continue their welcome descent, with sub-4% deals now reappearing, which is a clear boost for buyer affordability and confidence.'
Jonathan Handford, managing director at estate agent group Fine & Country, said: 'The rebound in prices suggests the market may be finding its footing after a turbulent few months.'
Matt Thompson, head of sales at London-based estate agent Chestertons, said: 'In April, some house hunters paused their search amid the Easter holidays, but sellers remained motivated which resulted in an uplift in the number of properties put up for sale.'
Tom Bill, head of UK residential research at Knight Frank, said: 'Demand has increased as more mortgage rates drop below 4%, which will underpin prices while the momentum is maintained.
'Tariff turbulence has helped push interest rate expectations lower but buyers could be put off if it gets too bumpy.'
Jason Tebb, president of OnTheMarket, said: 'With property prices remaining relatively steady, this suggests that affordability is having an impact on the amount buyers are willing and/or able to pay.'
Babek Ismayil, founder and chief executive at homebuying platform OneDome, said: 'This increase masks ongoing affordability pressures and the longer-term hangover from the stamp duty changes in April.'
Tomer Aboody, director of specialist lender MT Finance, said: 'The end of the stamp duty holiday in March saw a big push in transactions completing by the end of the month so that buyers could avoid the tax increase.
'We are now seeing the fallout, with transactions and mortgage approvals falling, although prices are holding steady.'
Here are average house prices and the annual increase, according to Halifax. The regional annual change figures are based on the most recent three months of approved mortgage transaction data:
East Midlands, £245,884, 3.0%
Eastern England, £335,619, 2.0%
London, £543,346, 1.3%
North East, £175,207, 2.1%
North West, £240,975, 4.1%
Northern Ireland, £208,220, 8.1%
Scotland, £214,011, 4.6%
South East, £391,830, 2.0%
South West, £304,451, 0.9%
Wales, £229,079, 4.7%
West Midlands, £261,098, 3.3%
Yorkshire and the Humber, £214,844, 3.8%
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Telegraph
17 minutes ago
- Telegraph
Trump warns China ‘not easy' as trade talks enter second day
7:34AM Good morning Thanks for joining me. Donald Trump said it was 'not easy' dealing with China but insisted he had received 'good reports' about trade negotiations between Washington and Beijing officials in London. Here is what you need to know as talks enter a second day. 5 things to start your day Apple's AI event falls flat as iPhone maker struggles | Investors sent shares downwards as Apple unveiled minor upgrades Thames Water lenders demand reprieve on fines in £17bn rescue deal | Ofwat urged to consider 'regulatory reset' after struggling utility giant hit with record penalty Nervous families freeze spending in blow to growth hopes | Fresh pressure on Rachel Reeves as retail sales rise just 1pc Miliband warned carbon capture project faces collapse without £4bn injection | Fledgling green tech has already received almost £22bn in public subsidies SNP ferry scheme suffers fresh blow after rain causes ship to flood | Glen Rosa is already behind schedule and £100m over budget What happened overnight Asian shares were mixed on Tuesday as investors kept an eye on the China-US trade talks that might help stave off a recession. A second day of talks was planned after US and Chinese officials met in London for negotiations over various issues. The hope is that they can eventually reach a deal to reduce painfully high tariffs against each other. Most of the tariff hikes imposed since Donald Trump escalated his trade war are paused to allow trade in everything from tiny tech gadgets to enormous machinery to continue. In Asian trading, Tokyo's Nikkei 225 gained 0.2pc to 38,177.71, while the Kospi in South Korea jumped 0.3pc to 2,865.24. Hong Kong's Hang Seng fell 0.2pc to 24,127.30 and the Shanghai Composite index was down 0.5pc to 3,384.47. In Taiwan, the Taiex surged 2.1pc to 22,242.14. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 advanced 0.8pc to 8,587.20. On Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was flat, at 42,761.76, the S&P 500 rose 0.1pc, to 6,005.88. and the Nasdaq rose 0.3pc, to 19,591.24. In the bond market, the yield on benchmark 10-year US Treasury notes fell to 4.478pc from 4.494pc late on Sunday.
The Guardian
19 minutes ago
- The Guardian
M&S website resumes online orders six weeks after cyber-attack
Marks & Spencer has reopened its website to shoppers, six weeks after it was forced to halt online orders after a cyber-attack. The retailer said on its website that customers 'can now place online orders with standard delivery to England, Scotland and Wales'. Deliveries to Northern Ireland 'will resume in the coming weeks'. 'We will resume click and collect, next-day delivery, nominated-day delivery and international ordering in the coming weeks,' it said. The retailer is estimated to have been losing about £25m in online clothing and homewares sales a week after it was forced to stop taking orders on its website within days of 'threat actors', thought to be a hacking collective known as Scattered Spider, gaining access to its systems over the Easter weekend. The company expects the hack to cost it up to £300m in profits this year, although about half of that is expected to be offset by insurance and other measures. It has previously said disruption to its website could last until July, and some online services are not expected to restart immediately. Shoppers have been able to browse online, as well as shop in M&S's physical stores using cash or cards for most of the period since the hack. However, stocks of food and clothing in stores have also been affected, meaning that M&S has lost out during a busy period for retailers as a warm, sunny spring has driven an unexpected rise in household spending. M&S has also admitted that some personal information relating to thousands of customers – including names, addresses, dates of birth and order histories – was taken in the cyber-attack. Sign up to Business Today Get set for the working day – we'll point you to all the business news and analysis you need every morning after newsletter promotion Stuart Machin, the chief executive of M&S, has said he expects the retailer to recover 'at pace' helped by bringing forward investment in its IT systems and website as part of the systems rebuild forced on it by the hackers. The attack on M&S emerged days before cyber-attacks were reported by the Co-op and Harrods. More recently, the sportswear brand Adidas and the lingerie group Victoria's Secret have also been targeted.
Reuters
25 minutes ago
- Reuters
UK selects Rolls-Royce SMR to build small nuclear modular reactors
LONDON, June 10 (Reuters) - Britain has selected Rolls-Royce SMR to build the country's first small modular nuclear reactors as part of its plan to speed up the decarbonisation of the power network from the mid-2030s. Successive British governments have championed SMRs - effectively small-scale nuclear plants - as a way of avoiding the high upfront costs, planning delays and difficulties of securing investment for traditional nuclear power stations. The government on Tuesday pledged over 2.5 billion pounds ($3.4 billion) for the small modular reactor programme. Rolls-Royce SMR will enter a strategic development partnership with state-owned Great British Energy - Nuclear following approvals by regulators, it said. Rolls-Royce SMR was named as preferred bidder following a two-year competition with a multi-billion-pound technology contract likely to follow. The company is majority owned by Rolls-Royce, the FTSE 100 engineer which makes the systems which power Britain's fleet of nuclear submarines. ($1 = 0.7396 pounds)
