ONS UK House Price Index for March 2022,

ONS UK House Price Index for March 2022, Nick Leeming, Chairman at Jackson-Stops said:

“March house prices continue to show a market brimming with demand, increasing 9.8% year-on-year. Although the pace of growth was slightly below February’s high of 11.3%, it remains clear that house prices are outpacing expectations once again despite headlines on interest rates rises and consumer spending power dominating our front pages. We may see the cooling effects come into play more in the coming months, but significantly, unlike other periods of high inflation, it is the sustained demand from home buyers that will continue to press house prices upwards in the short term in spite of macro-economic headwinds.

“Recent data from the Jackson-Stops network shows that the typical bounce seen at this time of year has an extra spring in its step, with over half of our UK branches not only seeing an increase in buyer demand in April, some by more than double, but also witnessing a boost in supply of homes on the market. We would anticipate this momentum continuing for the next quarter, in which a period where demand is lower than supply remaining considerably far off. What our data will start to show is that our reactive market remains buoyant for those correctly priced properties.

“Regionally, ONS data indicates it is the East Midlands steaming ahead in annual house growth, increasing 12.4% annually. Our Jackson-Stops Northampton branch has equally reported a period of high activity in several hotspots including Rutland and the surrounding villages, with both new instructions and buyer volume on a steady incline this year as buyers look beyond the traditional commuter belt for better value.”