The average asking price for newly-listed homes has risen 3% over the last 12 months, despite higher mortgage costs, according to Rightmove. The property portal said that the typical asking price had increased by £2,906 to £365,357 in the year to mid-March, as the market showed ‘cautious signs of recovery’ following turbulence caused by the infamous mini-Budget in September 2022.
However, the average asking price is still £5,800 below October’s peak, the data shows. Over the past month price growth has been fuelled primarily by a 1.2% jump in larger homes at the top of the property ladder.
Tomer Aboody, director of property lender MT Finance, says: ‘Some ‘normality’ is setting in after two years of unprecedented house price rises, which in turn were fuelled by the pandemic and rock-bottom mortgage rates, as volumes and numbers slowly return to pre-pandemic levels.
‘It is interesting to see the higher end of the market is on the up showing that buyers are still there at all levels of the market, with price resetting making homes more affordable. Of course, with interest rates still to settle down after multiple hikes, there’s still some caution although a confidently delivered Budget has provided some confidence for the markets, with inflation on course to be reduced and rates accordingly set to fall in the next 12 months or so.’
