House prices post full house of consecutive quarterly growth

The property market finished 2024 on the front foot with the UK market as a whole seeing a 3% annual rate of growth, whilst London house prices increased by 0.9% year on year.

The latest Property Market Index Review by London lettings and estate agent Benham and Reeves – a quarterly accumulation of house price data from the top four existing indices – shows the average UK house price sat at £302,464 during Q4 2024.

This marked a 0.1% quarterly increase, the fourth consecutive quarter of positive growth, completing a full house for 2024 in this respect. On an annual basis, the average UK house price also sat 3% higher when compared to Q4 2023.

In London, the average house price was £581,641 during the final quarter of last year. Whilst this marked a -1.1% decline versus Q3, it saw the London market finish the year up 0.9% versus Q4 2023.

POSITIVE GROWTH

Marc von Grundherr (main picture), Director of Benham and Reeves, said: “Following a prolonged period of higher interest rates and economic uncertainty, many were quick to call the demise of the UK property market at the start of last year.

“This simply hasn’t been the case and, in fact, we’ve seen a full house of positive quarterly growth, with property values also gaining ground on an annual basis.

“This positivity has only continued as we’ve headed into 2025 and we’ve already seen market sentiment boosted by a further cut to interest rates.”

GROWING MOMENTUM

And he added: Whilst we expect that the impending stamp duty deadline will help to quicken the pace of house price growth over the first three months of this year, the general consensus is that this growing momentum will continue to build beyond 1st April and we look set for another year of positive growth.

“At the same time, we’re continuing to see sustained growth across the rental market, with rental values climbing consistently. This has helped to boost the yields on offer to the nation’s buy-to-let investors and so it remains a very worthwhile endeavour, despite the uncertainty posed by the incoming Renters’ Rights Bill.”