UK house prices: Post-election surge breaks records
The decisive result of the General Election sparked a record-breaking surge in UK house prices in December and January, in the latest sign that the UK housing market has been revitalised by a “Boris bounce”
There was a 2.3 per cent monthly surge in the average price of property coming to the market between 8 December and 11 January, the largest jump ever for that time of year since Rightmove records began in 2002.
Nearly 65,000 properties were put on the market during the period, meaning most were advertised for sale following the General Election on 12 December, according to the property platform’s House Price Index.
There has also been a jump in buyer demand since the Conservative election victory.
Enquiries to estate agents between 13 December and 15 January were up 15 per cent compared to the previous year, with an extra 1.3m buyer enquiries following the election.
The number of sales agreed spiked by 7.4 per cent during the same period as buyers made the most of the renewed political uncertainty offered by the election result.
Rightmove director and housing market analyst Miles Shipside: “These statistics seem to indicate that many buyers and sellers feel that the election result gives a window of stability.
“The housing market dislikes uncertainty and the unsettled political outlook over the last three and a half years since the EU referendum caused some potential home movers to hesitate.
“There now seems to be a release of this pent-up demand, which suggests we are in store for an active spring market.”
London’s property market has also benefited following the General Election, as the capital saw a sharp increase in buyer interest and sales prospects. In December, 31 per cent of chartered surveyors saw a rise rather than a fall in enquiries from new buyers, up from minus 12 in November, according to the latest Rics data.
“We have absolutely seen a post-election bounce, quite substantially actually,” Marc von Grundherr, a director at Benham & Reeves in London, said.
“Things usually quieten down before Christmas, but we had three times the number of offers in the last two weeks of December than the first two weeks.
“People have been waiting for stability, and the moment it arrived, confidence in the market has increased significantly.
“There has been a dramatic Boris bounce, so to speak, with real optimism among buyers still getting good value. But it’s also not a bad time for sellers as stock levels are still relatively low.”