Sharp rise in properties listed over £500k in last year as number of homes for …

Nearly 230,000 homes were listed in first three months of 2015
Roughly half of these fall into the £250-500k category
The South East have highest number of properties available to buy

Lee Boyce for Thisismoney.co.uk

Published:
10:44 GMT, 13 May 2015

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Updated:
10:51 GMT, 13 May 2015

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There were nearly a quarter of a million homes listed for sale in the first three months of the year, a 5.2 per cent increase on 12 months ago, data shows.

Between January and March 2015, 229,939 properties were put onto the market by sellers, up from 218,649 in the same period in 2014, Experian’s property index has revealed.

Homes with a price tag of more than half a million pounds have seen the highest percentage surge nationally, with the number for sale in the upper echelons of the market up 20.4 per cent.

More choice: According to the Experian report, the first three months of this year saw a 5.2% leap in properties for sale

Properties between the £250,000 and £500,000 price bracket also saw a 17.4 per cent increase. It came after a year of soaring house values brought confidence back into the market for sellers.

Changes to stamp duty made in December may also be stimulating the market in the price categories over the £250,000 mark.

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For example, stamp duty pre-December would jump from 1 per cent at £250,000 to 3 per cent at £250,001.

Buyers crossing this line faced a trebling of their stamp duty bill – from £2,500 to more than £7,500.

But the stamp duty bill for someone buying a £275,000 home has now slipped from £8,250 to £3,750, and for a £510,000 property from £20,400 to £15,500, correlating with the percentage rise in the number of homes for sales in both price bands.

NUMBER OF HOMES FOR SALE

East Midlands: 15,362

East of England: 22,772

London: 24,448

North East: 10,891

North West: 29,319

Outer Met: 8,253

Scotland: 9,370

South East: 30,783

South West: 26,570

Wales: 11,774

West Midlands: 18,957

Yorkshire and The Humber: 21,434

In total, nearly half the properties listed for sale were priced between £100,000 and £250,000.

There were 66,000 valued between £250,000-£500,000, 30,000 over £500,000 and 29,000 under £100,000.

But while the number of homes for sale has risen, there has been a slight reduction in more affordable properties available.

The number of homes for sale between £100,000 and £250,000, and properties under £100,000, saw decreases of 2.5 and 2.9 per cent respectively.

Regionally, the South East saw the largest number of properties coming onto the market, with 30,783 homes for sale, a 6.8 per cent increase on last year.

Only two regions saw a dip in the number of homes for sale, Scotland and Wales at 7.2 and 0.7 per cent respectively.

London saw a huge drop of 40.4 per cent in number of homes valued between £100,000 and £250,000 coming onto the market, but those valued more than £500,000 saw a 22.3 per cent rise.

More than a third of all half a million pound homes are listed in the capital.

In terms of homes valued between £100,000 and £250,000, only the East Midlands, North East, North West, West Midlands and Yorkshire and The Humber saw any lift in affordable homes available.

Other than a small fall in Wales, all regions saw a boost in volumes of properties between £250,000 and £500,000 that came onto the market.

The report from the credit searching firm comes after the latest Halifax house price index showed property values have risen 8.5 per cent in the last 12 months.

The average property price in Britain now stands at another record high of £196,412 – up £3,084 compared to March – according to the bank.

Experian publishes its property index each quarter, using data from UK sales and letting agents.