House prices dropped by -2.7% in April, reflecting the distorting effects of the end of the March stamp duty holiday.<\/p>\n
This brought the average UK house price down to \u00a3265,000.<\/p>\n
At the end of May minimum stamp duty thresholds reverted from \u00a3250,000 to \u00a3125,000.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, for first-time buyers it changed from \u00a3425,000 to \u00a3300,000.<\/p>\n
Marc von Grundherr, director of Benham and Reeves, said: \u201cWhilst the monthly rate of growth declined in the month following the stamp duty deadline, we\u2019ve still seen positive movement on an annual basis and this long term measure is a far more accurate view of overall market health.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn the months that have followed, we\u2019ve seen buyers and sellers push on with their plans to move and so any initial reduction in house prices as a result of the stamp duty deadline will have been short lived.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Despite the monthly drop, annual house price growth stood at 3.5% in April.<\/p>\n
Mark Harris, chief executive of mortgage broker SPF Private Clients, said: \u201cThe easing of core and headline CPI is likely to support expectations for further interest rate cuts later this year in August and November rather than this week.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn the meantime, lenders have plenty of liquidity and are showing that they are keen to lend.<\/p>\n
\u201cMortgage rates are steady on the whole, with some lenders continuing to reduce rates and ease criteria, helping borrowers take on bigger mortgages than they might have been able to just a short while ago.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere are also signs of innovation with regard to helping first-time buyers in particular, which is good for the overall health of the housing market as it enables those further up the ladder to make their moves.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
House prices dropped by -2.7% in April, reflecting the distorting effects of the end of the March stamp duty holiday. This brought the average UK house price down to \u00a3265,000. At the end of May minimum stamp duty thresholds reverted from \u00a3250,000 to \u00a3125,000. Meanwhile, for first-time buyers it changed from \u00a3425,000 to \u00a3300,000. Marc […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":669,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-668","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-second-home"],"yoast_head":"\n