UK house prices increased by 2.3% in the year to July 2020, down from 2.9% in June, according to the latest UK House Price Index (HPI) from the Land Registry.

The July data also showed that on average, house prices have risen on a monthly basis by 0.5% since June – taking the average property value in the UK to £237,963.

The UK HPI is based on completed housing transactions, and the Land Registry stated that the price data feeding into the July 2020 UK HPI will mainly reflect the agreements that occurred after government measures to reduce the spread of coronavirus took hold.

In England, the July data showed that average house prices have risen by 0.7% since June, with the annual price rise of 2.5% taking the average property value to £254,688.

House price growth was strongest in Wales where prices increased by 3.6% over the year to July. The highest annual growth within the English regions was in the West Midlands where average house prices grew by 4.3%, while the lowest annual growth was in the South East, where prices increased by 1.0% over the year to July.

The data also showed that on a seasonally adjusted basis, the estimated number of transactions of residential properties with a value of £40,000 or greater was 70,290, a figure 27.8% lower than a year ago. The HPI stated that between June and July, transactions increased by 13.5%.

Hargreaves Lansdown personal finance analyst, Sarah Coles, said: “The post-lockdown mini-boom kept the market afloat in July, and the stamp duty holiday is likely to fuel even more price rises through August and September.

“The first fly in the ointment was a tightening in the mortgage market, and the disappearance of high LTV mortgages. But yesterday, Boris Johnson suggested the government could step in to prop the mortgage market up.

“However, it may not be enough when we face a period of really horrible job losses. Half a million redundancies were planned in the first five months of the virus, and as notice periods come to an end, and the furlough scheme dries up for anyone who can’t work at least part time, the impact of the recession is likely to kick in. It’s tough to see how the housing market could come through that unscathed.”

Share Story: