Average UK house prices in July jumped 7.6% year on year, but London’s growth lags the regions

Average UK house prices in July rose 7.6% from the previous year, but the growth rate has slowed, new figures show.

According to mortgage lender Halifax, prices stood at £ 261,221 last month. This was 0.4% more than the previous month when a stronger annual growth of 8.7% was recorded.

Last month marked the entry into force of changes to the stamp duty holiday, giving buyers a less generous offer.

In London, the year-over-year growth recorded in July was 2.5%, while growth in Wales and northern England led the way. Commentators have already pointed out that prices in the capital were already high in many cases before the pandemic.

Russell Galley, Managing Director of Halifax, said: “The past few months have been characterized by historically high buyer activity volumes, with June being the busiest month for mortgage completions since 2008.”

He added: “This has been fueled by both the ‘space race’ and limited-time stamp duty relief. With the latter now entering its final stages, buyer activity is expected to continue. to ease over the next few months, and a more stable period for the market may loom on the horizon.

In July 2020, a stamp duty holiday was introduced to help boost the industry after the market actually closed at the start of the pandemic, with card visits and real estate agent branches closed.

This meant that there was no tax payable on the first £ 500,000 of property purchases. Last month that rose to £ 250,000.

But the industry continues to benefit from many people reassessing housing needs during the pandemic.

Earlier this week, Pete Redfern, the boss of FTSE 100 home builder Taylor Wimpey, said that even since the new stamp duty change took effect, “appetite [to buy] is still in very very good health ”.

Galley of Halifax said: “Overall, assuming a continuation of recent economic trends, we expect the housing market to remain strong over the next several months with annual price growth continuing to slow but remaining well into positive territory by the end of the year. “

Tomer Aboody, director of mortgage lender MT Finance, said: “Real estate prices continue to rise as the strongest housing market we have had in years continues to perform well, with confidence in the market. growing economy and a lack of supply supporting values. “