House prices in the UK have climbed to a record £305,732 according to the most recent data released by Rightmove after values edged up by 0.4% between March and April – but the north-west was by far the top performer.
The month-on-month asking price rise is the lowest seen at this time of year since 2008, according to Rightmove director Miles Shipside, but this could be partly attributed to a rebalancing after the “seasonally large” 1.5% increase that was seen the previous month.
However, while London saw asking prices fall by a further 0.6% between March and April, which is a 1.6% decline annually, the north-west hit a new record house price rise with a 4.3% year-on-year jump.
Other regions to see record annual increases were the East Midlands with 4.2%, Yorkshire and the Humber with 2.7%, the south-west with 2.6%, Wales with 2.4% and the east of England with 1.2%.
Top house price rises for three-bedroom homes
“In the more popular locations and for the property with the right specifications, buyer demand is helping to push prices higher,” Shipside commented. “A lack of choice is nudging prices up to test the ceiling of what the market will pay.
“It’s not rampant price inflation, and buyers can easily spot a speculative price and ignore a property that is out of line with others nearby, and is also likely to be out of kilter with their pocket.”
Rightmove saw its highest number of visitors ever to its site in March with more than 142 million hits, which the company says proves that the UK property market remains robust and people are still looking to buy, sell and invest as the year progresses.
The results also demonstrated that home movers were likely to have seen higher price rises than first-time buyers, with two-bedroom or less house prices going up by an average 2.2% year-on-year, while three-bedroom property prices increased by 2.7%.
