Average Asking Price to Surpass £300k by End of Year

The average asking price of new properties for sale will be £307,000 by the end of this year, according to predictions from Rightmove.

The property portal expects asking prices to increase by an average of £17,000 over the next 12 months.

It forecasts that the average new asking price in London will rise by 3% over 2016, to £635,000.

Rightmove’s January House Price Index found that the average price of property coming onto the market is up by 0.5% (£1,509) on December – the second highest Christmas/New Year period increase since 2007.

The average asking price of a new home coming onto the market is currently £290,963 across the UK and £610,741 in London.

The portal also predicts a surge in traffic to its website in the spring, as rental demand will continue to grow as house prices rise further. In the first week of 2016, visits to Rightmove rose by 21% compared to the same period in 2015.

The expectations arrive after the Association of Residential Letting Agents (ARLA) reported a lull in rental supply and demand for December. This seasonal slowdown is normal. However, letting agents fear that the forthcoming changes to Stamp Duty for buy-to-let investors could cause private landlords to leave the sector and thus, lower supply further.

Find out more about the changes and what they could mean for the private rental sector here: /17794-2/