House prices have risen in every UK region for the first time in almost two years thanks to the ‘Boris bounce’.
The value of the average home jumped by 2.2 per cent – or £5,013 – to £234,734 in the year to the end of December.
But for the first time since February 2018, prices grew in every region, from the North East to the South West, as well as in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.
Yesterday’s figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) came in its first health check of the housing market since Boris Johnson’s general election victory on December 12 ended much of the uncertainty surrounding Brexit.
It backs up reports from estate agents and lenders of a surge in confidence among buyers and sellers in recent weeks.
House prices have risen in every UK region for the first time in almost two years thanks to the ‘Boris bounce’ (stock image)
Last night, housing experts said there was a ‘definite sense’ that the market had ‘turned a corner’, and that ‘normal service has most definitely been resumed’.
According to the ONS, the price of the average house in England increased by 2.2 per cent in the year to December 2019 to reach £252,000.
Average prices rose by 2.2 per cent in both Wales and Scotland, to reach £166,000 and £152,000 respectively. In Northern Ireland, prices were up by 2.5 per cent to £140,000.
One of the biggest upturns was in London, where prices in December were 2.3 per cent higher than the same month the previous year, pushing up the value of the average home sold there by £10,670 to £483,922.
This compared with the year-on-year rise in November of just 0.4 per cent – a sign of how fast prices rose at the end of the year. For the UK as a whole, the year-on-year price rise in November was 1.7 per cent.
The ONS said the figures in London were improved by a big rise in sales of the most expensive homes, as wealthy buyers became more confident about the market in the wake of Mr Johnson’s election win.
The ONS said the figures in London were improved by a big rise in sales of the most expensive homes, as wealthy buyers became more confident about the market in the wake of Mr Johnson’s election win
Some 27 per cent of sales in December were for properties worth more than £900,000.
In the previous two months, homes in this price bracket accounted for 20 per cent and 21 per cent of sales respectively. Sales of homes worth £3 million or more accounted for 3.75 per cent of sales in December, up from 1.84 per cent in October.
The ONS said: ‘Purchases of very high-value properties may be particularly affected by considerations such as uncertainty, including around the effects of the UK’s withdrawal from the EU, expectations of actual or potential tax changes, and other factors that may have an impact on their ongoing value.’
The ONS also reported a big swing in house prices in the East of England. After falling 0.7 per cent in the year to November, they jumped 2.4 per cent in December compared with the year before.
Sales of homes worth £3 million or more accounted for 3.75 per cent of sales in December, up from 1.84 per cent in October (stock image)
In the South West, prices were up 2.2 per cent in December compared with the previous year, in the East Midlands by 2.8 per cent, and in Yorkshire and The Humber by 3.9 per cent.
David Westgate, chief executive of Andrews Property Group, said: ‘For all regions to have delivered positive annual growth for the first time in nearly two years highlights just how resilient the UK property market has been against a backdrop of extreme political uncertainty.
‘There’s a definite sense that the property market has turned a corner and is shaking off its post-EU referendum anxieties.’
Jonathan Hopper, of Garrington Property Finders, added: ‘Normal service has most definitely been resumed. Such a resounding return to normality at the end of 2019 shows just how far the housing market has come.’
Some 27 per cent of sales in December were for properties worth more than £900,000. In the previous two months, homes in this price bracket accounted for 20 per cent and 21 per cent of sales respectively (stock image)
Although at present, prices are growing more quickly in the North than the South, the gulf in average house prices remains huge, with the average home in London worth £483,922, compared with just £130,977 in the North East.
The ONS has previously reported a general slowdown in house price growth across Britain since the EU referendum in June 2016.
Buyers and sellers have become more cautious about making big decisions while the terms of the UK’s exit from the EU are being negotiated.
Property experts say this was exacerbated in the run-up to the election by fears of a hard-Left Labour government led by Jeremy Corbyn.