Agency chief says typical home in England and Wales will soon cost £300,000

A major estate agency chain’s price index says average house prices in England and Wales have grown 6.6 per cent in the past year - and may reach a remarkable £300,000 average price soon. 

LSL Property Services’ index, branded as from Your Move and Reeds Rains, says the average home price has grown £17,963 over the past 12 months to reach £292,077.

But property values in five boroughs within prime central London fell by 8.7% on average during 2015 as a result, the agents say, of higher stamp duty. 

Elsewhere in Greater London there was an 11 per cent boost in house prices year-on-year;  East Midlands was second in regional rankings driven chiefly by a 10.6 per cent annual rise in Nottingham’s house prices.

Last month was also the strongest December for sales since 2006, up 7.1 per cent year-on year as buyers competed for fewer homes on the market.

However, the most startling suggestion is that average prices in England and Wales may break through the £300,000 barrier in the near future.

Adrian Gill, director of Reeds Rains and Your Move estate agents, says new price records were established every month throughout 2015 thanks to a stock famine. 

“The rising tide of property prices has been propelled so far by a sinking supply of houses coming onto the market, compared with increasing enquiries from potential buyers eager to clamber aboard the property ladder” he says. 

He then warns: “If the current speed of house price growth continues into 2016, the value of the average home may soon pass the £300,000 watermark, having reached £250,000 in December 2013. Property price rises have certainly left the recession in their wake, with house prices passing the £200,000 milestone only in October 2005.”