We told you so!': Estate agents' house price value pledge comes true
04-04-2016
By CJHall_LE
House prices are up - but you get value for your money if you buy in Lincolnshire.
House prices continue to rise as new figures show the price of a typical UK home increased by 0.8 per cent in March.
But Lincolnshire estate agents who predicted the increase in January insist that the county still offers value for money on the competitive property market.
New figures have shown that the average price for a home in March was £200,251 - compared to £196,93 in February.
And the annual rate of house price growth rose to 5.7 per cent - the strongest pace since February 2015.
Announcing the rise, Robert Gardner, Nationwide's chief economist, said: "The price of a typical UK home increased by 0.8 per cent in March.
"And the annual rate of house price growth rose to 5.7 per cent, up from 4.8 per cent the previous month.
"There has been a pick-up in housing market activity in recent months, with the number of housing transactions and mortgage approvals rising strongly.
"This is likely to have been driven, at least in part, by upcoming changes to stamp duty on second homes, where buyers have brought forward purchases in order to avoid the additional tax liabilities."
But in early January local estate agents said a house price predicted rise of around five per cent this year wouldn't stop homes in Lincolnshire being value for money.
The Echo revealed that Lincolnshire property prices were set to rise because demand for homes was outstripping supply, with the cost of an average home set to increase from £134,532 to £141,259.
Buyers able to spend £140,000 on a home could currently afford a three bedroom, modern, family home with a garden in the popular Deansleigh area of the city.
But in London all you could get for that amount was a pokey flat.
Your Move, Lincoln, sales negotiator Emily Garrard said in Janauary: "We get a lot of people coming from London to buy houses here, even to commute from here as it's not that far.
"And I find we are getting a lot of people moving their elderly relatives here and they do comment about how house prices are cheaper here than anywhere else.
"I think it's because Lincolnshire is a huge county, but the majority of it is farmland.
"People underestimate the facilities we have here in Lincoln. It's come on leaps and bounds in the last 10 years."
Edward Walter, managing director at Walters Estate Agents in Lincoln, said property prices in the county were still hugely comparable with elsewhere in the country.
"In the last 10 years, the university in Lincoln has brought life to the city, in my opinion.
"Lots of students have come here and have got qualified and are wanting to stay here and get jobs.
"And the facilities here are getting better and better all the time."