July 2015 House Price Watch
This month's House Price Watch indicates house prices are up on average 0.2% in the past month and up 5.5% in the past year
Supply suppresses housing market activity – home sales down 14% year on year
According to LSL estimates from Land Registry, transactions are up 10% in May vs April of this year (typical seasonal pattern) to 67,300 but the number of homes sold during May 2015 is down 14% on May 2015.
Supply looks to be constricting the market with the supply of homes available for sale reported by RICS to be at its lowest level since May 2009.
The anticipated post-election bounce has yet to materialise. Rightmove report a rise in buyer activity in the past month but the number of properties available for sale are down 8.5% on the same period a year ago.
However, the volume of mortgage approvals for house purchases – a leading indicator of future completed house sales– was up 9.9% in April, the highest monthly rise in 14 months; coinciding with competitive activity between mortgage lenders (and good mortgage deals for borrowers).
The Halifax Housing Market Confidence tracker suggests greater confidence that now is a good time to buy than to sell.
Regional Summary – The East and North East regions experienced the greatest rise in average house price in the past month
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