Property prices rise by an annual 7.7% in September

UK property prices increased by an average of £16,000 to nearly £218,000 in the year to September, official data revealed today.

The average cost of a home rose by 7.7 per cent in the year, while climbing 0.2 per cent between August and September, the Office for National Statistics said.

With an annual rise of 8.3 per cent, homes in England saw the biggest price jump, while those in Scotland saw prices rise a more modest 3.4 per cent.

In the London borough of Kensington and Chelsea, the average cost of a home in September was £1.4million.

At the cheaper end of the market, the average cost of a home in Wales stood at £146,000 in Wales and £124,000 in Northern Ireland.

The cheapest area of all to buy a home is Blaenau Gwent in South Wales, where properties cost around £76,000, the UK House Price Index revealed.

A first-time buyer faces paying 7.5 per cent more for a home than they did a year ago, with the average price paid by this sector standing at £183,385.

In terms of supply and demand, the ONS cited recent findings by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors suggesting new listings fell by 6.6 per cent in August.

Richard Snook, a senior economist at PricewaterhouseCoopers, said: ‘We now have three months of post-Brexit official housing figures, which show price growth remaining robust, but fewer properties changing hands.

‘High prices are causing some buyers to stay out of the market altogether. The ONS data show residential transactions in September were just 93,000, 11.3% lower than the previous year.

‘This implies that underlying demand may be weakening as property becomes less and less affordable.’

(0113) 2744 350

News

Property prices rise by an annual 7.7% in September