The cost of houses coming to the market reached a record high in every region of the U.K. for the first time since 2007 as buyers took advantage of low interest rates, the property website Rightmove said.
Asking prices rose 1.8 per cent in October, the biggest gain for this time of year since 2015, Rightmove said in a report published Monday. That lifted the average listed cost of a home to 344,445 pounds (US$473,784), 6.5 per cent higher a year ago.
Financial markets are signaling investors expect the Bank of England to raise interest rates as early as the end of this year, ratcheting back the cheap credit that has kept house prices buoyant through the worst recession in a century. For now, the BOE has said the supply of credit for house purchases expanded in the past quarter, triggering drop in mortgage costs.
"Mortgage interest rates are lower than they have ever been before, and lenders are keen to lend in a competitive market, with employment and wage growth also robust," said Tim Bannister, Rightmove's director of property data.
Despite the end of a temporary cut to a property transaction tax, the number of sales agreed was buoyed by the rush to buy before a rate hike. Rightmove said more properties are coming to market, but demand continues to outstrip supply.
London, which has lagged every other region in the U.K. for the past year, posted the strongest growth in the past month. A 1.9 per cent gain put the average asking price of a home in the capital at 650,683 pounds. - Bloomberg
