The average asking price of a new home in November was £224,298 increasing 0.8% since October. This is the second consecutive monthly increase with prices now up 1.3% over three months.
Annual growth has fallen back from a peak of 5.0% in October to a more sustainable 1.7%. The average price of a new home is now £3,644 more than the same time last year.
The new homes market continues to show increasing stability. In the wider market, however, average asking prices declined in November, as sellers valued their property more realistically, bringing them more closely in line with prices in the new homes market.
Eight of the 11 regions saw prices rise in November with Wales recording monthly growth of 7.4%. Prices there were also up 8.2% over three months and 1.5% on an annual basis. Barratt Homes is helping to keep homes affordable for buyers in the region through its Head Start scheme which works by providing first time buyers with a loan of 15% of the purchase price of a property. Buyers then require a deposit of just 5%. Using Head Start at Barratt Homes’ Abbottsmoor development near Port Talbot, first time buyers can purchase a two bedroom house priced at £124,995 with a deposit of only £6,249. The West Midlands extended its recent price gains with the average asking price up 0.6% over the month and annual growth now 15.4%. In East Anglia, however, prices fell 2.8% in November, 2.1% over the quarter and 6.3% over 12 months.
New homes coming onto SmartNewHomes
Annual growth in the number of new homes coming onto the market has fallen to it lowest level since August 2010. This is due to some developers opting to delay the launch of new phases and developments until January as well as ongoing planning confusion which has seen the number of new home starts fall to dramatically low levels.
Commenting on the data, Steve Lees, Director of SmartNewHomes, said:
“Buyers eager to reserve a new home before Christmas and the New Year shrugged off economic concerns, supporting price growth in November. Prices are expected to fall back in December but we are likely to see modest price growth of at least 1% for 2011.
“Demand, coupled with a more streamlined market, will underpin price growth in the first half of 2012 and until the new National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) comes into effect in the autumn and the number of new homes coming to market begins to increase. However, the recent revising downwards of gross mortgage lending figures in 2012 by the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML), threatens to waylay those buyers keen to make a move into the market as well as undermining the efforts of housebuilders and the Government who continue to work closely with the banks and building societies to introduce a range of affordable mortgage products.”
To read the latest New Homes Index in full click here.
See Also: Mortgage Industry (13), Mortgage Market (13), New Homes Index (22), New Homes Market (28), Press Releases (371), Property News (6705), Property Articles (28)
Date Published: 23 December 2011
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