The average price of British homes has hit a record

Average asking prices for homes increased by 0.3 per cent, or £1,091, month-on-month in September, according to figures from Rightmove.

Rightmove added that buyers who are ready to move - including those who have already sold their own home, have cash in the bank, or are first-time buyers with a mortgage agreed - are 'out-muscling' those who still need to sell their home in order to buy.

It comes as it was revealed earlier this month that the prices houses are actually selling for are now 13 per cent higher than before the pandemic.

The figures come in contrast to predictions from agents, who thought the end to the Covid-19 stamp duty holiday would see demand for properties dramatically fall and take heat out of the housing market.
The Government's stamp duty holiday, introduced when the pandemic hit last year, fuelled a rapid rise in house prices, but the stamp duty band was halved from £500,000 to £250,000 from July, and will revert to £125,000 from September 30.

But property price growth has still seen a 'surprising' increase in August, with Nationwide Building Society figures placing it at 11 per cent higher than one year earlier.

The typical home was worth £255,535 in July, according to the Land Registry-based index - around £19,000 higher than a year earlier but significantly below the £265,448 peak in June.

In a reversal of fortune for the property market compared to the recent past, the North East is the UK's hottest property market in terms of average price rises, with homes up almost 11 per cent in a year, while London is seeing the lowest gains at 2 per cent, ONS figures show.

This has been adapted from an article first published in The Daily Mail