The housing market has reported price records across every region and market sector in the United Kingdom for the first time since March 2007, as the average price of property coming to market increases by over £5,000.
According to Rightmove’s House Price Index, the overall average asking price reached £344,445, another all-time high and the highest October rise since 2015.
However, even outside of the national figures, estate agents in Hull notice a house price increase of their own, reaching an overall average of over £157,000, to complete a housing market “full house” across the country.
The “full house” is an exceptionally rare phenomenon in the market where every location and market sector measured by the Index has seen record-high prices, despite the end of the stamp duty reduction that catalysed the initial housing rush in the middle of 2020.
It is somewhat rare for first-time buyers, second-steppers and those at the top of the property ladder to all see increases at the same time, but the conditions surrounding the property market have been anything but normal over the past year.
Whilst there has been a small increase in properties hitting the market, it is still very much a seller’s market given the strong demand from buyers this autumn.
Part of the buyer demand comes from an expected rise in interest rates, which has provided an incentive to buy and lock in an advantageous mortgage rate.
As well as this, 2021 has seen a rise in the “power buyer”, a highly desired buyer who either is a first-time buyer with a lot of capital or has already sold their property subject to contract and thus their purchase does not link them into a property chain.
This gives them the best negotiating power to secure the home they want, as there is nothing in the way of any purchase they choose to make.
