Nationwide has said that the UK’s house prices have risen at the fastest pace in 17-years by 13.4% in the year to June.
Nationwide chief economist Robert Gardner said prices were “close to a record high” and he added “makes it even harder” for first-time buyers.
Gardener told the BBC that many people have “reassessed what they want from home” regarding space as a result of lockdowns.
He added, “The pandemic is an unusual kind of shock – it has stimulated housing market activity rather than the shock holding back the market which is normally what happens.
Founder and CEO of GetAgent.co.uk, Colby Short said, “Properties are going under offer at an alarming pace at the moment and buyers continue to swarm the market despite the dwindling hopes of a stamp duty reprieve. There also remains a severe shortage of stock to meet this demand and so sellers are achieving a very good price for their property, often at, or in excess of the original asking price.
While a reduction in buyer demand is expected towards the back end of this year, the scales will remain firmly tipped in favour of sellers due to the imbalance between supply and demand and so we should see a buoyant level of property price appreciation remain for the duration of the year.”
Director of Benham and Reeves, Marc von Grundherr said, “We’re currently seeing huge rates of house price growth not seen since some time before the last property market crash. There’s no end in sight where this current market performance is concerned, despite some having predicted a market slump on and off since the pandemic first started.
It’s important to remember that while the market did show signs of slowing down as we approached the original stamp duty deadline, we’re now looking at a very different market altogether.
People are returning to work and life is gradually returning to a greater sense of normality and so the stimulation of a stamp duty saving is no longer required in order to maintain market activity.
London, in particular, is showing strong signs of a shift in momentum across both the rentals and sales market. This is being driven by a realisation that we can’t work from a secluded countryside bolthole forever and now that we are returning to the workplace, a lengthy commute on a stuffy train is no longer as manageable when it’s required five days a week instead of one or two.”
Managing Director of Barrows and Forrester, James Forrester said, “The stamp duty holiday isn’t the be-all and end-all where homeownership is concerned and it certainly isn’t the primary factor causing buyers to enter the market at mass. So its tapered expiry is unlikely to cause current levels of market activity to evaporate overnight.
Once both the initial and extended deadlines have expired, the fires of buyer demand will continue to be stoked by the availability of 95% mortgage products and very low interest rates. Of course, there will be some period of natural market realignment after such a sustained period of manic activity, but we’re worlds away from seeing a property market crash.”
Matthew Cooper, Founder & Managing Director of Yes Homebuyers added, “It’s crunch time for the UK market and we can expect to see a far less positive outlook from here on out where house price appreciation is concerned.
For far too long, homebuyers have been borrowing beyond their means and offering above the odds in a desperate scramble to secure a stamp duty holiday saving. Now that this is starting to slip through their fingers we will see a reduction in transaction levels and the inevitable decline in property prices that will soon follow.”
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