Zoopla has released its latest House Price Index which shows how the property market has changed since the start of lockdown and the Chancellor’s budget meeting earlier in March.
During this meeting, Rishi Sunak extended the stamp duty holiday deadline, meaning buyers won’t have to pay any stamp up to a threshold of £500,000 until June 30.
Prices will then be tapered until September.
According to the data, buyer demand increased by 24 per cent in the week following the budget meeting and is currently running 80 per cent higher than normal.
However, demand seems to outstrip supply which is down by 13 per cent- something that is fuelling house prices.
The data also looks at how house prices have increased since the start of the pandemic- and the introduction of the 2020 stamp duty holiday could be a significant contributing factor.
Compared to last February’s figures, house prices in the UK have increased by an average of 4.1 per cent.
However, there is some good news for buyers who want to purchase a house quickly.
There has been a high turn around for properties and the average time it takes to sell a property in the UK has fallen by nearly a week.
The pandemic is also continuing to polarise demand for property, with houses selling three weeks faster than flats.
When it comes to stamp duty, more than half a million buyers are expected to benefit from stamp duty relief - with markets in the North best positioned to take advantage of the tapered September deadline.
Zoopla estimates that there are currently around 130,000 properties for sale in England that will be stamp duty free for another six months
How house prices and trends have changed in Yorkshire
According to Zoopla, Yorkshire and the Humber is currently the joint-fastest moving market in the UK, with sales agreed on properties in an average of just 38 days from the point of listing.
However, the increase in property demand had a knock-on-effect on house prices- the increase of which is more than the national average.
House prices in Yorkshire & Humber at up 5.2 per cent on last year, which is 1.1 per cent higher than the national increase; it is also the third highest increase in the UK.
The average price for a house has risen by 5.9 per cent over the last 12 months, compared to the national annual growth figure of 4.9 per cent.
The average price for a flat has risen by 2.9 per cent over the last 12 months, compared to the national annual growth figure of 1.9 per cent.
73 per cent of properties currently for sale in Yorkshire & the Humber fall under the £250,000 stamp duty threshold, meaning that buyers in this region have more opportunity than anywhere else in the country to buy tax-free before the end of September.
James Watts, Director of Bradford-based Robert Watts Estate Agents said the majority of these national statistics correlated with what estate agents are seeing in Bradford.
He commented: "Zoopla's data confirms what we have been seeing locally over the last few weeks.
“Demand for homes in our region has never been higher, with property selling at the fastest rate in over a decade."
James Hart, a sales director at Robert Watts Estate Agents on Highfield Road, acknowledged that the stamp duty holiday will save some people thousands- but it could also make buying more difficult for first time buyers.
He said: “Was the stamp duty holiday introduction necessarily a good thing? As an industry we don’t think it is.
“The market was already was already booming before the chancellor announced it last year.
“By extending the stamp duty holiday (this year) for everyone, it has removed the competitive edge that first time buyers had.”
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