By Legal Futures Associate SearchFlow [1]
Halifax has just released its latest house price index data, which provides a view on July’s housing market, following the exceptionally high levels of activity we witnessed in June.
The data found that average house prices now stand at around £261,000, having seen an increase of 0.4% in July (which added a further £1,122 to the average price of a home). Looking at annual data trends, Halifax also reports that while house prices were 7.6% higher than in July 2020, this is reportedly the slowest increase seen since March.
Dr Thomas Quirke, managing director of SearchFlow [2], provides his commentary on what this could mean for the housing market: “The conditions of the first half of the year were anything but typical, driven by the various Stamp Duty holiday deadlines, however we anticipate the market returning to more ‘steady’ levels as the second half of the year progresses – and these figures from Halifax perhaps point towards this trend.
“I think one thing that the last 12-18-months has taught us is that software or ‘proptech’ is an enabler towards faster and more efficient sale pipelines and completions (and the associated revenues that are generated as a result). As we head towards the end of the year, with slightly less pressure bearing down on everyone, innovation will rise back up the boardroom agenda as firms look at smarter ways to move transactions through to completion as quickly and efficiently as possible. Both conveyancers and the end consumers will all benefit from a smoother process.”