'Stamp duty stampede' as house prices in London surge by 14 per cent
02-29-2016
Values in London jumped by a huge 13.9 per cent in the year to January to an average £530,409, according to the Land Registry.
Experts said buyers in the capital are piling in ahead with of an end of March deadline when the three per cent stamp duty surcharge is introduced.
Jonathan Hopper of buying agents Garrington Property Finders, said: "The stamp duty stampede is on. With barely two months to go until the tax levied on purchases of second homes and investment properties is hiked by 3 per cent, an increase in demand was inevitable - but both the scale and pace of buyer activity has been prodigious.
"Coupled with the traditional January uptick in activity, the scramble by second home and buy-to-let buyers to complete before April has boosted prices in several of the most in-demand regions."
But regional disparity is still a large feature of Britain, with prices rising by just 0.2 per cent in the North East over the year to an average.
Between December and January values in the region actually fell by 1.6 per cent to an average £97,117.
The number of completed house sales in England and Wales fell by two per cent in the year in November 2015 compared to the same month a year before.
Critics said the fall is worrying and indicative of the lack of supply hindering the market.
Jeremy Leaf, a former RICS chairman and north London estate agent, said: "If people aren’t able to move in and out of the market when they want to, there will be an inevitable knock-on effect for the rest of the economy.
"With the high cost of moving, continued shortage of supply and affordability issues with tougher mortgage criteria, this situation looks unlikely to change any time soon."