Property buyers 'can't trade up'
THE Chancellor's stamp duty reform has stoked demand for homes – but all is not quite well in the housing sector, according to property website Rightmove.
House prices have increased 1.4 per cent
During the first 11 days of the year, it said visits to its site had risen by 10 per cent.
Between December 10 and January 7 the average asking price jumped by 1.4 per cent to £273,275.
Some people can't afford to trade up
It is an unusually large increase, buoyed by a stock of homes for sale at historically low levels.
Prices were also boosted by demand for properties in popular locations.
However, that was partly due to insufficient supply of newly built homes over the last few decades.
Buyers are simply not satisfied with some of what is offered on the market.
Rightmove director Miles Shipside said "some people can't afford to trade up", adding that, should prices rise, it would tend to help sellers rather than buyers.