Prices were 0.3 per cent higher in the first quarter of this year compared to the preceding three-month period.
Russell Galley, managing director of Halifax, said the renewed activity in March followed a subdued start to the year.
“Casting our minds back 12 months, few could have predicted quite how well the housing market would ride out the impact of the pandemic so far, let alone post growth of more than £1,000 per month on average,” Mr Galley said.
“The continuation of government support measures has been key in boosting confidence in the housing market. The extended stamp duty holiday has put another spring in the step of home movers, while for those saving hard to buy their first home, the new mortgage guarantee scheme provides an alternative route on to the property ladder.”
“Having enjoyed an extremely strong period of activity in the second half of last year, the housing market continued its softer start to 2021, with average prices down very slightly compared to January,” said Russell Galley, managing director of British lender Halifax. However, with annual house price inflation currently at +5.2 per cent, property values remain comfortably higher than 12 months ago, when February was the last full month before lockdown.
Mr Sunak first unveiled the tax break in July last year with the first £500,000 of the purchase price of a main residence in England and Northern Ireland exempt from the levy.
At the start of the year, however, buyers feared Mr Sunak would stick to the existing March 30 deadline for the tax break, causing heightened activity in the market to ease.
Gifts from the bank of Mum and Dad and Grandparent over £3,000 could be subject to tax and almost half of them are unaware of this. Almost half – 46 per cent – of parent and grandparents do not know they could face an inheritance tax bill if they give money to children and grandchildren to help with something like a
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Paying off bills has become a major issue in the second charge market with three out of the top five broker-related searches cover debt enquiries or people with county court judgements, according to mortgage database Knowledge Bank. "This demonstrates that a number of people are struggling financially and are using