Savills, the global real estate services provider, reported a boost in consumer confidence, which has been mirrored by a monthly house price growth that rose to 0.6% in January, according to the Nationwide index. This equates to an annual growth from 2.5% to 3.1% – the best performance the index has recorded for 10 months.
The report also suggests RICS surveyors expressed more confidence over the last couple of months than they’d experienced since June last year and the number who reported a price growth increased significantly through December and January, although this is unlikely to impact on house prices until new instructions rise. Meanwhile, annual growth in the rental market for the South East stood at 2.2% – second only to the performance reported for the East Midlands, where growth of 2.6% was recorded.
This positive assessment of February’s property market activity was given a further boost when Rightmove released its House Price Index that gives a clear picture of house prices and activity. The report revealed that record home-hunter activity was fuelling rises in most regions and highlighted the following key findings:
There was an active start to 2018 as housing demand continues to be resilient
- The price of property coming to market was up by an average of 0.8% (+£2,414), indicating cautious optimism among new sellers
- All regions saw price rises except for a marginal fall of just £131 in the South West
- January was the busiest month ever on Rightmove with home-hunter visits hitting over 141 million
- More sellers were reported too, with the number of properties coming to market up by modest 2% on previous year
- Year-on-year change in number of sales agreed recovered from -5.5% in Q4 2017 to just -1.6% in January
The next House Price Index will be released on 19th March, so watch this space to see if confidence and performance continues to grow as spring, a typically buoyant period of property market activity, arrives.
You can read the full Savills Research report here and, to read the full House Price Index, click here.