The latest index shows that: –

–          New record highs in price of property coming to market in the mass-market sectors, made up of first-time buyer properties, up by £1,328 (+0.6%) in the month, and second-stepper properties, up by £975 (+0.3%) in the month

–          Cooling of the upper-end four-bedroom-plus sector, down by £4,699 (-0.8%) in the month, with buyers no longer making larger stamp duty savings

–          Overall result is that the national average falls £1,076 (-0.3%) this month, the first price drop recorded in 2021

–          Buyer demand remains strong, suggesting an Autumn bounce in prices and seller activity:

–          Demand stats for the first week in August are up 56% on the same period in 2019, and down just 17% on frenzied post-lockdown 2020

–          With homes selling faster than ever, there’s a strong incentive for owners to come to market with “sell before you buy” proving the best tactic for many to secure their next home in this fast-moving market

Managing Director of Barrows and Forrester, James Forrester, commented:

“While the stamp duty holiday certainly lit the touchpaper it’s no longer fuelling the current house market boom with buoyant home seller sentiment and a lack of available properties driving house prices ever higher.

A cool in the rate of growth at the top end of the market for larger homes is also to be expected. Not only were homes of this description seeing the largest saving as a result of the stamp duty holiday, but we’ve seen lockdown restrictions spur many buyers to buy bigger. As a result, demand for these properties has been through the roof and so this cool in asking prices is no doubt signs that this trend is starting to ease.”

Director of Benham and Reeves, Marc von Grundherr, commented:

”London continues to trail the rest of the UK as a result of a drastically different market recovery timeline.

While other regions have seen prices accelerate pretty much since the start of the stamp duty holiday, demand across the London market has stuttered due to travel restrictions dampening foreign buyer appetites and remote working impacting domestic demand.

However, the London property market is really a multitude of micro-markets reacting individually to super-local influences such as commutability, regeneration and the effects of demand overflowing from adjacent areas and from foreign shores.

It’s a complex dynamic characterised by a huge +7.3% to -5.3% spread in annual house price growth and so to tar the entire London market with the same brush of underperformance is rather inaccurate. We’re already seeing strong growth in a number of market areas and so it won’t be long before this starts to show at a topline level and we don’t expect London to trail the house price pack for long.”

Founder and CEO of GetAgent.co.uk, Colby Short, commented:

“Homes are going under offer at an extremely fast pace in the current market and house prices continue to climb to new highs, but it’s no bed of roses, particularly if you’re a buyer.

Stock levels remain at extremely low levels following the boom caused by the stamp duty holiday and while agents have been enjoying transaction volumes 50% higher than usual, this will soon become a distant memory as the market starts to shrink.

Not only will this cause a considerable challenge for the industry but with buyers already facing stiff competition and an ever-escalating cost of buying, the task of securing a property will grow all the more difficult.”