Strong demand for houses has driven price growth up 5.2% in the last year which is over four times more than the 1.1% growth for flats.

Demand for family houses places upward pressure on prices, up 5.2% year-on-year as home movers prioritise more space and price rise for flats four times lower at only 1.1%, says Zoopla.

House prices across the country are up by 4.1% with average values of £228,300 whereas city prices are higher by 3.6% and average values of £266,200.

Prices are supported by demand exceeding supply with the strongest rise where homes are affordable such as Wales up 6.3% over the year followed by Yorkshire & the Humber up 5.4%.

In contrast London is the slowest region in the UK for the sixth month running with house prices rising at 1.9% year-on-year and average vale of £489,300.

Sales expected at 1.5 million homes

The number of properties to be sold is expected to be 1.52 million this year as buyer demand after the first lockdown has driven homeowners to change their lifestyle with working from home and the need for more space.

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As an older homeowner, rising house prices gives the equity release buyer the opportunity of downsizing your home and releasing cash to maintain your lifestyle, holidays or purchase a new car.

In the first 15 weeks of this year the value of homes sold subject to contract was £149 billion helped by the stamp duty holiday which has been extended to June and a taper extension to the end of September.

The value of property sales in the UK was £273 billion in 2019, increasing to £316 billion in 2020 and is projected by Zoopla to be £461 billion in 2021 or 46% higher than last year.

Mortgage lending is also higher, according to the Bank of England with a record value of loans of £11.3 billion in March.

There has been an improvement in lender mortgage deals with more products available and lower interest rates if you have a larger deposit which is attracting more first time buyers.

With competitive interest rates, remortgage buyers can use an advance to raise capital which can be used for an extension or loft conversion to add more space.

Most active markets in Britain

The regions that are the most active perform well in terms of house price growth and moving quickly to sell on the market compared to normal years of 2017 to 2019.

The leading region is Wales with house price growth of 6.3% over the year with the time from listing the property to securing a sale reducing by -12 days.

Other regions are Yorkshire & the Humber with house prices up 5.4% taking -12 days less to sell and the North West rising 5.2% selling fast in -15 fewer days.

For city markets Wigan, Blackburn and Burnley sold the fastest with time to sell reduced by three weeks and house price growth of 5.8% over the year or greater.

The least active market is inner London taking two weeks longer to sell a property compared to the normal years of 2017 to 2019 with house price growth averaging 0.3% year-on-year.

Four boroughs have seen price falls in the capital, the City of London down -2.5%, Westminster lower by -2.2%, Kensington & Chelsea lower by 11.7% and Hammersmith & Fulham down -1.4%.

What are your next steps?

Speak to our LCM mortgage advisers if you intend to trade up your home and looking for the best mortgage deal. Learn more by using the property value tracker chart and equity release calculator.

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If you release equity from your home for home improvements or a gift to a family member, we can find the lifetime mortgage to meet your needs so begin your equity release quote for the latest provider offers.