{"id":111650,"date":"2021-04-09T10:59:47","date_gmt":"2021-04-09T10:59:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/fin2me.com\/?p=111650"},"modified":"2021-04-09T10:59:47","modified_gmt":"2021-04-09T10:59:47","slug":"new-boom-uk-tax-break-extension-pumps-up-house-prices","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fin2me.com\/markets\/new-boom-uk-tax-break-extension-pumps-up-house-prices\/","title":{"rendered":"New boom? UK tax break extension pumps up house prices"},"content":{"rendered":"
LONDON (Reuters) -British house prices surged last month, mortgage lender Halifax said on Friday, a further sign that finance minister Rishi Sunak\u2019s decision to extend a property purchase tax cut has again pumped up the housing market.<\/p> Mortgage lender Halifax said house prices rose 1.1% in monthly terms during March, the biggest increase in six months, after a flat reading in February.<\/p>\n In annual terms, prices rose 6.5%, the strongest reading in four months and taking the average house price to a record high 254,606 pounds ($348,683), Halifax said.<\/p>\n The survey chimed with data from the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors on Thursday, which showed a renewed housing market upturn after Sunak\u2019s budget last month.<\/p>\n Sunak extended his COVID-19 emergency cut to a property purchase tax, known as stamp duty, while Britain\u2019s economy remained under the strain of social-distancing restrictions.<\/p>\n He also announced a new mortgage guarantee scheme for first-time buyers who cannot afford large deposits.<\/p>\n \u201cThe rise in house prices recorded by Halifax in March probably marks the start of a renewed surge in house price inflation into double figures over the summer,\u201d said Andrew Wishart, an economist at consultancy Capital Economics.<\/p>\n The housing market is an important source of consumer wealth and collateral for small business investment, but is also a marker of wealth inequality in Britain.<\/p>\n A new jump in house prices would boost all of those things.<\/p>\n \u201cHave we learned nothing from the global financial crisis?,\u201d former Bank of England policymaker Andrew Sentance said.<\/p>\n Then, loose monetary and financial policies including a massive housing price bubble resulted in crisis, he said on Twitter, adding: \u201cHistory seems to be repeating itself now as the housing market is pumped up by low interest rates.\u201d<\/p>\n Halifax said it expected the upturn to persist in the next few months as consumer confidence grows on the back of Britain\u2019s swift COVID-19 vaccine rollout.<\/p>\n \u201cHowever, with the economy yet to feel the full effect of its biggest recession in more than 300 years, we remain cautious about the longer-term outlook,\u201d Halifax added.<\/p>\n ($1 = 0.7302 pounds)<\/p>\nMARKET BUBBLE FEARS<\/h2>\n