It seems that there was somewhat of a resurgence in the UK housing market in March, and the extension to the stamp duty holidays were the 'key to the rise in activity'.
This has resulted in the average house price to be 6.5% higher than a year ago.
The rise in housing prices may be good for some. However, for those like first time buyers, it may be frustrating especially considering the uncertainty of Covid-19 which has affected people's income and ability to borrow through a mortgage.
Fortunately, support was offered for these first-time buyers in the Budget by way of a government guarantee, meaning first time buyers could get a wider choice of mortgages that require a deposit of just 5% of the loan.
According to figures based on both Nationwide's and Halifax's own mortgage data, it was stated that 'UK house prices rose by 1.1% in March compared with February'. In cash terms, this meant, they had risen by £15,430 over the last year.
Russell Galley, managing director at the Halifax stated, 'few could have predicted quite how well the housing market would ride out the impact of the pandemic so far, let alone post growth of more than £1,000 per month on average.
Chief executive of asset manager SPI Capital, Anna Clare Harper, suggested 'the lockdown and rising living standards had encouraged existing owners to buy bigger properties'.
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