UK House Prices Increase by Nearly 1% in March 2023

UK house prices increased unexpectedly last month, the latest data from Halifax shows. The latest house price figures suggest that the market may be boosted by the recent easing of mortgage borrowing rates and the tight labour market.

House prices increased by 0.8% between February and March, data showed on Thursday, which surprised many economists, with most experts expecting property prices to remain the same or fall slightly.

UK Industry Reactions:

Matthew Thompson, head of sales at Chestertons, said: “House hunters may not be seeing the drop in London property prices that they had hoped for. In March, the average price at which properties sold via our branches stood at £1.37mn with neighbourhoods such as Putney, Fulham and Barnes being in particularly high demand with buyers.

“Since the start of this year, many homeowners put their sale on hold to observe the market which has led to demand further exceeding the number of properties available for sale. This is resulting in properties keeping their value with little room for price negotiation. Throughout March, most London sellers have therefore been able to secure their asking price or even receive higher offers from buyers.”

Nicky Stevenson, MD at Fine & Country, remarked: “Spring has started strongly with a robust set of house price results, and this coincides with a welcome uptick in demand as mortgage rates continue to ease.

“These are the kind of figures that will give sellers confidence that now is a good time to list their property, though many are also being realistic about pricing and buyers’ expectations for a negotiation.

“All the signs point to the property market emerging from the challenges it has faced since the Mini Budget, with the weather set fair for a strong showing over the next few months, in what is traditionally a very busy period.

“Although demand is increasing, so is housing stock. We’re starting to see signs of a much healthier market in terms of supply and demand than we saw during the mad rush over the last two years.

“In some areas there are many more properties for sale than this time last year when the market was still in the middle of a historic boom in demand.”