Asking prices for U.K. homes increased to a near-record this month after Boris Johnson’s Brexit breakthrough lifted confidence, website-operator Rightmove said.
Values increased by 0.8 percent on the month to an average £309,399 (US$400,000) it said. In London, they gained by 2.7 percent from a month earlier as uncertainty about the country’s future with the European Union started to lift.
Visits to Rightmove’s website jumped to a record as demand revived, the latest sign of a a pickup in property sentiment this year. The 2016 referendum cast a long shadow over the U.K. housing market, with London being hit particularly hard. Britain left the EU in January under a transition agreement and is now working on a long-term trade agreement.
“There is a boom in buyer activity,” said Miles Shipside, director at Rightmove. “After three and a half years of Brexit uncertainty, dither, and delay, many now seem to have the 2020 vision that this is the year to satisfy their pent up housing needs.”
