Rising house prices, growing numbers of first-time buyers and a drop in mortgage defaults have combined to give Britain’s housing market a dramatic uplift, new figures have revealed according to The Telegraph.
Property values are rising at their fastest rate for three years and first-time buyers are at a six-year high, new figures reveal, creating a “virtuous circle” which has given banks and building societies more freedom to lend at the current historically low interest rates.
The result is a “contagious” confidence in the housing market, which will have a knock-on effect for the wider economy, according to industry experts.
The latest evidence of Britain’s economic recovery comes days after forecasts for the country’s annual economic growth were doubled from 0.8 to 1.5 per cent.
The Halifax’s latest monthly index recorded an annual rise of 5.4 per cent, taking the price of the average home up from £160,292 to £170,231, the fastest rate of growth since 2010.
Meanwhile figures compiled by LSL Property Services’ First Time Buyer Monitor showed 26,100 first-time buyers took out loans in July, the highest number for six years and a 45 per cent rise on the same month last year.
