House prices in the UK have increased by 0.9% in Q3 2024, marking the third consecutive quarter of growth, according to the latest Property Market Index Review by Benham and Reeves.
The average UK house price was found to be £311,154, 2.2% higher than Q3 2023.
In London, the average house price remained unchanged from the previous quarter at £574,254, but showed a 1.1% increase year-on-year.
The review combined data from major house price indices, including mortgage approvals and sold prices, offering a comprehensive view of market trends.
It showed a narrowing gap between mortgage approved prices and asking prices, indicating that sellers are becoming more flexible in their pricing.
In Q3 2024, the average mortgage approved price was £278,890, while the average asking price was £370,672, a gap of 32.9%, down from 35.5% in Q2.
In London, the figures were £524,685 and £684,210, respectively, resulting in a gap of 30.4%.
The gap between asking prices and sold prices were also closing.
The average sold price in the UK was £291,411, 21.4% less than the average asking price.
This gap shrank from 24.1% in the previous quarter.
In London, the sold price gap sat at -22.9%.
Marc von Grundherr, director of Benham and Reeves, said: “2024 has been a far more positive year for the property market and this is becoming abundantly clear when analysing house price trends across each segment of the market.
“We’ve seen consistently positive growth with respect to overall house prices across all three quarters of this year so far and this is despite the fact that buyers are still having to contend with significantly higher interest rates than they’ve become accustomed to in recent years.
Grundherr added: “What is clear is that sellers are taking a more pragmatic approach to selling, with the gap between the mortgage approved price of buyers and the asking price expectation of sellers narrowing.
“As a result, we haven’t seen the previous stalemate across the market whereby sellers refuse to budge on price, whilst buyers simply can’t afford to match them.
“The result of both parties meeting in the middle has been an uptick in sales, a higher proportion of asking price achieved and a more measured, healthy rate of house price growth seen across the market.”
