Property price rise despite stamp duty

THE average price tag on a home has jumped by more than £5,000 in the space of a month to hit a new record high - with smaller increases in the South West, according to a property website.

- VICKY SHAW

Across Britain, the average asking price in April for a property coming on the market is £377,182, which is £5,312 or 1.4% higher than the average asking price of £371,870 in March.

The figures were released by Rightmove, which said that this is a bigger-than-usual increase for the month of April, with a long-term average increase for the month of April at 1.2%.

The record high comes despite stamp duty discounts becoming less generous for some buyers from April 1 onwards. Stamp duty applies in England and Northern Ireland.

On the upside for home-buyers, some mortgage rates have been edging down in recent days, with Barclays cutting several rates below 4% on Friday last week.