The highest buyer activity was recorded in the West Midlands and the North East. According to the study, housing prices have been rising in all regions of the country for the fourth consecutive month, with the greatest price dynamics since November 2006. According to experts, this data indicates the beginning of a recovery in the UK real estate market. They note that while previously positive dynamics were only observed in certain regions and cities, now for the first time since the crisis, positive changes have been recorded across the entire country.
According to Indriksons.ru, in the first half of the year, the average housing price in the UK increased by more than a thousand pounds sterling per month: from 162,262 pounds sterling per property in December 2012 to 168,941 pounds sterling in June 2013.
Across the UK, the average price increase for the first five months of 2013 was 0.5%. As for individual regions, for example, in Wales, according to Indriksons.ru, from January to May prices rose by 11.8% or to 80,712 pounds sterling per property. In Darlington, prices increased by 5.7% over the five months of the current year, and in Bridgend by 3.9%.
According to experts, the positive changes in the British housing market are driven by low bank interest rates, the Help to Buy program (government provision of tax breaks), the decline in the pound sterling against the dollar and the euro. "In the second quarter of 2013, 68,200 mortgages were issued in the UK – the highest in the last 5 years," note analysts at Knight Frank.
The significant increase in mortgage loans could be a worrying signal, but experts are not yet talking about an overheating market. Moreover, they are confident that at the slightest sign of a "bubble," the UK authorities will take restraining measures. "When prices for luxury real estate began to rise too rapidly, in 2012 a 15% tax was introduced on transactions exceeding 2 million pounds sterling and carried out by offshore companies. So even a 10% price increase is not possible in the UK. In addition to legislative measures, the government, with the help of banks, actively uses methods of restricting availability that will prevent people from obtaining mortgage loans," says Igor Indriksons, a real estate investment manager and founder of the Indriksons.ru portal.
According to experts, price growth until the end of the year and in the near future will be moderate. "A restraining factor is the insufficient growth in household income for this. That is why by the end of 2013 I forecast a nationwide increase of 1.5%," says Igor Indriksons. According to forecasts from Tranio.Ru, by 2017, economy-class housing nationwide will become more expensive by 11.5%, in London by 21%, in South East England by 19.5%. According to forecasts from Savills, the increase in average prices in the UK luxury real estate market will be 3.5% this year and 18.1% over the next 5 years.
Yulia POGORELOVA,
"Gazeta.Ru".