London Property Prices Rise In March

The property market in the capital seems to be showing a slight recovery, with London property prices rise in March of 1.6 percent in March Shows latest data from Hometrack.

The latest data from Hometrack in their UK Cities House Price Index for March 2018, showed a 5.5 percent price rise in UK cities. What’s more is the Northern cities are continuing to support the country’s property price growth.

The top cities in England were Nottingham, which recorded an 8 percent price rise and Manchester just behind at 7.4 percent.

However, contrary to this positive data; figures from the Office for National Statistics show the average price of a home in London fell by almost £5,000 over the 12 months to February.

Northern Powerhouse Driving Growth

The northern cities are driving house price growth.  As a continued interest from overseas investors looking for stronger yields than can be found in the capital. Furthermore, investors are now building a more structured unitised portfolio of multiple buy-to-let units; selecting areas of the UK which is comparatively cheaper than London, such as Manchester, Liverpool & Birmingham.

Read More: Regional Price Growth Stronger Than London

Pound Rising Against the Dollar & Interest Rates

International investors have been benefiting from the weakened pound. However, the pound hit its highest level against the dollar since the Brexit vote in June 2016, rising to $1.4364. Those looking to purchase in the UK from UAE, and other Dollar denominated countries should monitor the pounds momentum. Furthermore, In November 2017, The Bank of England raised interest rates from 0.25 per cent to 0.5 per cent. Which was the first rate rise since the Global Financial crisis. Furthermore, the Bank of England’s chief economist, Andy Haldane, sounded even said, “I think there is the potential for greater than expected momentum in both global and UK growth and inflation,” he wrote in his annual report to Parliament. Therefore many experts are anticipating a further rate rise over the next few months.

Future Growth In The Regional Cities

With a continued, undersupply of housing stock investor will see significant capital growth already. Furthermore, experts are expecting this price growth to continue;  JLL predicts a 20% price rise in Manchester and Liverpool over the next 4 years.

Read More: Why Invest In Birmingham?

Figures from the ONS on a regional basis, London was still the region with the highest average house price at £472,000, followed by the South East and the East of England, which stood at £322,000 and £288,000 respectively.

Cardiff, Leeds, Newcastle and Sheffield also recorded sustained price gains over the last year. Furthermore, all cities across Britain seeing an uplift in sales that was slightly higher than the year before.

House Prices Rose 2.7% in Q1 2018

According to the Halifax Price Index; House prices across the UK rose 2.7 percent in the first three months of 2018, compared with the same period of last year. The average price hit £227,871 in March, the highest on record. However, prices for the quarter were 0.1 percent lower compared with the previous three months.

HMRC Data Shows UK Property Market Activity Rising

HMRC figures show that the property market appears to have picked up towards the end of the first quarter of 2018 but transactions in the first three months are well down on the same period last year, HMRC figures suggest.

HMRC’s latest UK Property Transaction Statistics show a 13% boost in residential sales between February and March to 94,140, on a non-adjusted basis.

However, this is still down 10.9% from the same period last year.

With London Property Prices Rising, and stronger growth being recorded nationwide, It appears that the market momentum is picking up, with more growth to be had in the North and regional markets than there is in London. This coupled with the higher yields available in other areas, investors should be looking outside of London to maximise their return on investment.