–Rightmove: UK March House Asking Prices +1.6% m/m; +2.2% y/y
LONDON (MNI) – UK house asking prices were up sharply in the first
quarter, with the expiry of the stamp duty holiday at end March looming.
House asking prices were up 1.6% on the month in March and 4.9% in
the first quarter, according to the Rightmove survey. Activity may well
fall back when the stamp duty, or property transaction tax, holiday ends
but the Rightmove data add to the evidence the market has picked up
ahead of its expiry.
The 4.9% rise in house asking prices over the first three months of
2012 was the largest first quarter increase since 2004. Rightmove said
house search activity was up by 16% in the first three months of 2012,
and London house asking prices hit a record high.
The government remains keen to support the housing market, having
recently launched a plan to part guarantee mortgages on new build
property, but Rightmove warns the end of the stamp duty holiday will
hit first time buyers.
The stamp duty holiday was set to last for two years from April
2010 and during this period anyone buying their first home wouldn’t have
to pay the duty on a home bought for under stg250,000.
Miles Shipside, director of Rightmove said “For a first-time buyer
it’s already hard enough to raise the necessary deposit and now, as well
as potentially losing between stg1,250 and stg2,500 in stamp duty
exemption, asking prices for their target property types have increased
by over stg5,000 in the last year.”
–London newsroom: 4420 7862 7491; email: drobinson@marketnews.com
[TOPICS: M$B$$$,MABDA$,MABDS$]
