New build rising in value

Newly built homes are defying the rest of the property market by increasing in price, a new survey has indicated.

In its latest monthly New Homes and Migration Monitor, new homes website SmartNewHomes.com revealed that in May the average price of new homes was £258,856, up by 0.3 per cent from April.

This figure is still down by 0.8 per cent on a year ago, but the survey revealed that over the last three months the value of new build homes has grown by 1.2 per cent.

Put together, these trends suggest new homes have fallen in value but then rebounded, possibly indicating that new buyers are concentrating on what they consider to be the most ideal properties.

A separate survey by the same website published earlier this week suggests this is the case for first-time buyers, of whom 91 per cent said a new build was their first-choice type of home.

People thinking of using the self build method to get on the ladder may be encouraged by the thought that such a home may be more valuable than any older property they could buy instead.

The new build trend may be defying that for existing homes, with an ITV poll of the Society of Business Economists this week revealing a consensus that the overall housing market will take four years to get back to 2007 levels.