Surprise rise in house prices in April

The average price of a house in the UK rose by 0.4% from March to April to £286,000, marking the first month-on-month rise since November, according to the Office for National Statistics. The ONS said the average UK house price in April 2023 was £9,000 higher than 12 months earlier. Average house prices increased over the 12 months to April 2023 to £306,000 in England (a 3.7% annual increase), £213,000 in Wales (2.0%), £187,000 in Scotland (2.0%) and £172,000 in Northern Ireland (5.0%). Meanwhile, the North East recorded the highest annual percentage change of all English regions in the 12 months to April 2023 (5.5%) while London recorded the lowest (2.4%), with an average price of £534,000. Gabriella Dickens, senior UK economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics, a consultancy, said: "April's rise will prove to be a blip. We remain comfortable with our forecast for a peak-to-trough fall in the official measure of house prices of about 8%." 

The Independent (21/06/2023)   The Times (21/06/2023)