According to Home.co.uk's Asking Price Index for July, home sellers continue to reboot the supply side with very confident pricing. Overall, the number of new instructions in the UK during June was just 9% shy of the figure for June 2019 and Greater London vendors added 4% more stock than a year ago. This month's hike in the national average price of 1.5% is the largest monthly rise since February 2014, such is the current bullishness of sellers who will no doubt be further encouraged by the Stamp Duty holiday.
Confidence appears greatest in the North West and Yorkshire, where extraordinary month-on-month price hikes of 1.9% and 2.7% respectively confirm that considerable strength remains in these formerly hot markets. Overall, it would appear that all the English regions, Scotland and Wales are making up for lost time as indicated by month-on-month hikes across the board in excess of 1.0%.
Despite a very confident rise of 1.6% this month, the East of England remains the UK's worst-performing region with the year-on-year change in average asking price just in the red at -0.4%.
While supply is returning to anticipated levels, the overall stock of properties on the market remains low: total inventory is 12% less than in July last year. On the other hand, demand, as judged by a surge in the number of mortgage applications in June and a report of the best four weeks of trading in 2020 (even surpassing the same period in 2019) by a major estate agent, appears to have the upper hand and this is driving up prices.
The annualised mix-adjusted average price growth across England and Wales currently stands at +2.0%; in July 2019, the annualised rate of increase of home prices was -0.4%.
