Upwards pressure on pricing has pushed 4.3 million homes into higher stamp duty brackets over the last two years, the latest Zoopla House Price Index has revealed.

The property expert stated that continued high levels of homebuyer demand is putting upward pressure on pricing, with the average house value up 8.3% on the year.

This has taken the average value of a UK property close to £250,000, a figure up £29,000 since the start of the pandemic.

The highest price growth is in Wales, where average values are up by 12.1% over the last year, compared to a 3.4% rise in London.

Furthermore, Zoopla stated that the supply of new homes for sale is rising, up 3% on the five-year average, although the property expert highlighted that some areas are seeing significant increases. High buyer demand is driving activity, with sales agreed in the run-up to Easter running around 27% higher than pre-pandemic levels.

“The rise in house prices since the beginning of the pandemic, due to the demand supply imbalance, means millions more properties are now in higher stamp duty brackets,” said Zoopla’s head of research, Gráinne Gilmore. “But there are pockets of increased supply emerging, creating more choice for buyers in this busy market.”

Commenting on the Zoopla data, Hargreaves Lansdown senior personal finance analyst, Sarah Coles, added that the stamp duty holiday had a “nasty sting in the tail”.

“Hundreds of thousands of people have actually paid more tax, thanks to the huge hike in house prices fuelled by the tax break,” Coles commented.

“Since the start of the pandemic, the average house price is up £29,000, pushing millions of homes into a higher tax bracket. And while an estimated one million people paid less tax during the stamp duty holiday, as soon as the window closed, hundreds of thousands of other buyers started paying the price.

“These higher tax bills are piling yet more pressure on buyers, who are already facing the stress of rampant house price rises, hikes in mortgage rates and runaway bills, which make it increasingly difficult to cover the cost of the mortgage.

“So far, all these pressures have done little to dent our enthusiasm for property. The demand for homes remains 58% above the five-year average. Right now, with property price rises running so hot, buyers may feel they can’t afford to take their foot off the accelerator, for fear of being left behind by the market.

“However, there’ll come a time when the pressure on buyers takes a toll. It could mean enthusiasm for property starts to cool, as the cost-of-living reaches a tipping point.”

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