The latest house prices from the Halifax showed a 2.2% rise in March, which the bank puts down to new buyers rushing to get themselves on then property ladder before the end of the stamp duty holiday.
It said that the number of completed sales was at its highest level since late 2009, which has pushed the average price up to £163,803 but, although there was a month-by-month increase, the March figure was still 0.1% down on a quarter-by-quarter basis and was 0.6% down on March of last year.
HMRC has said that sales in January and February were 14% up on the same period last year, largely seen as due to the stamp duty deadline approaching and research indicates that about 40% of first-time buyers took advantage of the concession in the two years it was in place.
Martin Ellis, housing economist at the Halifax, said that the rush of new buyers trying to beat the deadline has undoubtedly had an impact on sales and may have helped to support prices. Though longer term forecasts are more gloomy – Howard Archer of IHS Global Insight expects prices to fall 3% by the end of this year – Ellis is not as pessimistic. He said that he expects little movement this year as long as the UK economy does not deteriorate.
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/firsttime-buyers-push-hou...
