East of England records Britain’s biggest property price increase

East of England property prices shot up by 1.7 per cent in the last month, an increase matched only by the South West.

The East – which includes Hertfordshire – also saw an annual change of 5.3 per cent, with the average home now changing hands for £369,864 and taking just 52 days to sell.

This data comes as part of Rightmove’s latest house price index, which saw asking prices hitting a record high of £323,530 in October, a monthly increase of 1.1 per cent; the annual change of 5.5 per cent is the highest in over four years.

The national average selling time of just 50 days is the fastest ever, and the traffic to Rightmove is up by almost 50 per cent on a year ago – the biggest annual jump since 2006.

Tim Bannister, Rightmove’s director of property data, said: “Previous records are tumbling in this extraordinary market, and there are still some legs left in the upwards march of property prices.

“We predict that the annual rate of growth will peak by December at around 7 per cent higher than a year ago.

“With the number of buyers contacting agents still up by two-thirds on a year ago, there is plenty of fuel left in the tank to drive further activity in the run-up to Christmas and into next year.”

Tim warned that vendors must maintain a sense of perspective, despite these unprecedented market conditions: “Many buyers seem willing to pay record prices for properties that fit their changed post-lockdown needs, though agents are commenting that some owners’ price expectations are now getting too optimistic, and not all properties fit the must-have template that buyers are now seeking.”