Doug Crawford, CEO of My Home Move, comments on today’s ONS house price index for May
July 18, 2017“Today’s 4.7% annual house price growth for May shows that, despite the slight slowdown, the housing market is still simmering away nicely. Even though the overall growth rate has fallen, for first time buyers the slower rate of house price growth will be welcome, particularly with inflation running ahead of wages for many.
“However, the headline figure masks a lot of regional variation, with price growth particularly strong in the East of England (up 7.5% year on year) and the East Midlands (up 7.2%) but more sluggish in London (up 3.0%). There is a complicated cocktail of house price growth, inflation and wage growth that varies significantly through the regions, which means buyers are having very different experiences of the housing market depending on where they are buying.
“Our recent research found that average deposits climbed £6,000 in the last year, with increases in some regions of over 30%.”