LONDON (dpa-AFX) - UK house price growth accelerated in August with more sellers and buyers coming to the market on an otherwise quiet summer period, property website Rightmove said Monday.
House prices grew 4.6 percent on a yearly basis in August, faster than the 3.7 percent increase seen in July.
Month-on-month, house prices dropped 0.2 percent in August. Monthly fall was due to London's more normal seasonal fall of 2.0 percent, reversing what would otherwise have been an unseasonal national rise, Rightmove noted.
Miles Shipside, Rightmove director and housing market analyst said, 'There have been many changes as a result of the unprecedented pandemic, and these include a rewriting of the previously predictable seasonal rulebook for housing market activity and prices.'
Rather than just a release of existing pent-up demand due to the suspension of the housing market during lockdown, there is an added layer of additional demand due to people's changed housing priorities after the experience of lockdown, Shipside noted.
Data showed that home movers have put more property on the market and have agreed more sales than in any month for over ten years, worth a record total of over GBP 37 billion.
Home-owners brought more properties to market than in any month since 2008, giving more choice to buyers. At the same time, record levels of buyer activity lead to processing delays and mean that patience is required to get sales agreed to completion.
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