House prices leap over £8,000 in a month

The price of property coming to market has leapt by 2.90% this month pushing the average asking price to within a whisker of £300,000.

The average asking price rose by £8,324, a rise of almost 50% over the previous record set in October 2015 of £5,586.

Housing demand is higher than ever as property portal Rightmove reports traffic at record levels, with visits up nearly 20% year-on-year in January.

There has been a slight improvement in supply with an encouraging 5% uplift in new properties coming to the market year-on-year.

This means there is now in the highest total number of newly-listed properties at this time of year since the 2008 credit crunch.

Property choice for first-time buyers has also improved, with a 10% year-on-year jump in the number of two beds or fewer coming to market.

Rightmove director Miles Shipside said the housing market has hit the ground running in 2016, continuing last year’s momentum.

“Many agents reported high numbers of sales in November and December and properties selling more quickly, so it’s encouraging to see signs of replenishment of property, especially in the first-time buyer sector.

“However, in spite of the apparent veneer of market buoyancy, those thinking of putting their property up for sale need to avoid being too optimistic with their initial asking price, as most buyers are still understandably being very selective about their future home.”

There were over 127 million visits to Rightmove in January, up by nearly 20% on January 2015.