A new north-south divide as northern regions drive transactions

• House prices climb to a new peak despite General Election uncertainty
• West Midlands remains region with highest growth in house prices
• Strong growth in London prime property
• Liverpool the ‘city to watch’

After a slow start to the year, house prices in England and Wales rallied to a new peak in May. The uncertainty of a General Election did little to dampen the market, with the average price up 0.3% to £303,200. The value of the average home has now increased £13,934, or 4.8%, in the last 12 months.

Activity remained relatively strong, too, with transactions slightly lower than usual for the season but still up 6% on April, with an estimated 62,500 sales. A sharp slowdown in sales in London, the South East and East of England is increasingly being offset by more resilient performance in the North.

Oliver Blake, Managing Director of Your Move and Reeds Rains estate agents, said: “There was a lot of talk about housing from the parties in their election manifestos; it’s now time for those words to be put into action.

“The market remains resilient and there’s encouraging activity in the North, but we need to urgently address the serious blockages in house building holding back labour mobility and economic competitiveness in too many areas of the country.”

Click here to read the House Price Index – May 2017 (England and Wales)

Data source: LSL Property Services