House prices hit the £200,000 mark…

The latest report from Nationwide reveals that average UK house prices increased by 0.8% compared with March, reaching a barrier-breaking £200,251 and annual house price inflation of 5.7%.

Nationwide’s Chief Economist, Robert Gardner commented:

“There has been a pickup in housing market activity in recent months, with the number of housing transactions and mortgage approvals rising strongly.  “This is likely to have been driven, at least in part, by changes to Stamp Duty on second homes, where buyers have brought forward purchases in order to avoid the additional tax liabilities.

“The pace of house price growth may moderate again. However, it is possible that the recent pattern of strong employment growth, rising real earnings, low borrowing costs and constrained supply will keep the demand/supply balance tilted in favour of sellers and maintain pressure on price growth in the quarters ahead.”

Other property experts are debating this news and are uncertain whether prices will carry on rising or dip marginally following the Stamp Duty stampede.

In addition, the new Stamp Duty levy could affect buyers of homes containing ‘granny annexes’, as reported by the Telegraph, with predictions of a 3% knock-on effect in values…the Treasury said only 0.1% of transactions would be hit.

 Click here for Nationwide’s House Price Index.

The Telegraph reports here.