British property values are higher than they were a year ago following six consecutive months of price rises website FindaProperty.com reports. Today, the value of the average home is £218,134 compared to £217,622, twelve months ago, an increase of GBP512.
The small rise in values is due to a surge in demand for large houses.
Prices are rising for larger properties targeted by "home-movers", but falling for smaller homes sought by first-time buyers FindaProperty.com reveals. Prices have risen 6.6 per cent over the past twelve months for homes with three bedrooms or more, but dropped 4.6 per cent for small flats, terraced houses and other properties with two bedrooms or less, the website's research shows.
Rising unemployment and difficulties in raising mortgage finance are keeping first time buyers from the market which is dragging prices down for entry level housing FindaProperty.com says. Home-movers are able to buy homes more easily, because mortgage lenders are more likely to lend to them, so this is keeping the market for larger properties active the website adds.
"Movement into positive annual property price growth is the news homeowners have been waiting for and suggests the housing market is making a sustained recovery," says Michael O'Flynn, director or FindaProperty.com, "There is no doubt that lending criteria still continue to be an issue, but most existing homeowners are still able to access the mortgage market using the equity they have built up over the years."
The British property market has experienced a sharp turnaround in recent months and many forecasters are upgrading their forecasts for this year. The RICS forecasts prices will be slightly higher by the end of this year than at the start, after previously forecasting a big fall.
The market has been particularly strong in prime central London districts like Mayfair where City money and foreign money have driven up prices since the Spring. City buyers are benefitting from the return of bonuses and a surging stock market, and foreign buyers are benefitting from the weak Pound, although it has strengthened marginally in recent weeks.
Many commentators remain sceptical about the recovery in prices. PriceWaterhouseCoopers says prices will fall over the next 18 months and may not recover to 2008 levels for another decade, saying the lack of mortgage finance and a shaky economy will drag the housing market down.
(All The World's a Home : Global Property News)
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