House price rise slows in May!

The building society commented that their survey saw house prices were up 4.6pc in May by comparision with May last year, which is the smallest rise since August 2013.They commented that this resumed the gradual downward trend that had been in evidence since the summer of 2014, which was briefly interrupted in April when price growth edged up to 5.2pc from 5.1pc in March. As a consequence annual house price growth is now running at less than half the speed of that which was prevailing in mid-2014. Over the longer term they see house price growth converging with earnings growth, which has typically been around 4pc per annum.However, they do warn that much will depend on supply side developments. Building activity has remained well below that required to keep up with population growth."

In May house prices rose 0.3pc, taking the average cost of a home to £195,166. Cash purchases were up at an all-time high of 38% of houses sold during the first three months of the year. With bottom hugging interest rates, buyers looking for a good investment return have poured cash into property, while "subdued" mortgage lending has also spurred cash purchases on, which averaged in the region of 36pc in 2014  and have been at elevated levels since the credit crunch.

Tony Wing DipSurv MRICS FNAEA
Sales Director
Lincoln Office
Email: tonywing@robert-bell.org
Tel:01522 538888
Twitter: @robertbellandco