By Legal Futures Associate Search Acumen
- UK average house prices increased by 10.2% over the year to October 2021, down from 12.3% in September 2021
- The average UK house price was £268,000 in October 2021, which is £24,000 higher than this time last year
Andy Sommerville, Director at Search Acumen, says: “These latest figures show that house prices continue to climb due to ongoing market forces driving pricing, albeit at a less frenetic pace than at the peak of the Stamp Duty holiday. We are still seeing very high prices that were last seen before the financial crash in 2007.
“Underpinning the robust housing market is a series of persistent market dynamics. These include an ongoing shortage of housing that is being aggravated by supply chain issues as well as competitively low mortgage rates, which continue to be on offer. While consumer confidence is likely to be rocked by the rampant spread of the Omicron variant, it could also be predicted to encourage more people to work from home and therefore drive buyer demand.
“The Omicron variant also shows us that while a New Year is fast approaching, we are unlikely to see an end to the uncertainty that has been so central to all of our lives since March 2020. The market has thrived under harsh conditions, and digitisation has played a central role here. As such, we would urge property professionals to pause and take stock of the innovations that have enabled them to operate more efficiently over the past months. It is important that we continue to embrace digital ways of working that will enable the market to operate as best as it can despite continued disruption.”
