The average house price across England and Wales climbed by 1.4% in October, according to the latest e.surv Acadata House Price Index.

e.surv suggested this was driven by a further surge in transactions during September as the stamp duty holiday ended.

The data also showed that annual growth slowed to 4.1% however, down from 4.3% last month, to take the average price of house across England and Wales to £335,325.

e.surv director, Richard Sexton, said that the complexity of the UK residential property market is evident in the varying regional performance across the market.

“While Wales continues its strong performance annually, regional annual house price performance in England has revealed that the North West, and within it specifically Blackpool at a staggering 16.9%, has comfortably outperformed the rest of the country,” he said.

“This means that for five of the last eight months the North West has been at the top of our regional league table in terms of having the highest rates of annual house price growth and it continues to have the highest rate of growth of the nine regions in England.”

Sexton added that the Bank of England’s decision last week to hold interest rates will support buyers who are considering a house move imminently.

“With a voting margin of 5-2 to hold, there is speculation that it is unlikely we will see any rise before the first quarter of 2022,” Sexton continued. “The Bank of England is clear that it expects inflationary pressures to lessen – National Insurance tax rises due in April next year may already be having a desired effect.

“The Office for Budget Responsibility is now forecasting low but positive rates in 2022 and into 2023, with a steady increase in subsequent years which means borrowers should feel confident about buying – particularly with continued government support for 95% LTV lending which will support prices.”

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