House price rise since first lockdown revealed

The price of the average UK home has risen by £43,577 since the first lockdown began two years ago, Halifax says.

The lender, part of Lloyds Banking Group, said the 18.2% rise took the cost of a typical home to £282,753.

The buyer race for space was clear with single-family home prices rising 21% compared to an 11% rise in apartment prices over the same period.

A lack of homes on the market has helped push up prices.

“The story behind such strong house price inflation remains unchanged: limited supply and strong demand, despite the prospect of increasing pressure on household finances,” said Russell Galley, chief executive officer of Halifax.

“Although there has been some evidence of more homes coming onto the market recently, the underlying problem remains that there are too many buyers looking for too few properties.”

According to Halifax, prices rose 11% for the year through March. Rival lender Nationwide saw home values ​​rise 14% in the same 12 months — the fastest annual growth in 17 years.

However, a number of forecasters – including the Office for Fiscal Responsibility – expect the pace of growth to slow over the next few years.

Mr Galley said that over the long term “we know housing market performance remains inextricably linked to the health of the broader economy”.

Tom Bill, Head of UK Residential Research at estate agent Knight Frank, said: “We are probably witnessing the current peak in UK house price growth.

“Sometime in the near future, the falling cost of living and rising mortgage rates will push prices back down to earth. A shortage of properties for sale has been instrumental in driving double-digit price growth, which is another situation that cannot go on indefinitely.”

Sarah Coles, Senior Personal Finance Analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, said: “While homeowners may feel better on paper, this puts real estate even further out of reach for anyone trying to climb or climb the ladder. Now might not be a good time to stretch.”