22 2GM Monday May 23 2022 | the times
News
House prices have grown a “record-
breaking” £55,000 since the start of the
pandemic and are still rising, according
to the latest market survey.
Rightmove said that asking prices
had jumped by 2.1 per cent over the past
month — equivalent to a £7,400 in-
crease — to take the cost of the average
home to nearly £368,000.
The monthly increase was the high-
est at this time of year since May 2014
and means that prices have risen by
£55,551 over the past two years. In the
two years before the pandemic prices
increased by only £6,200.
The figures mean that the average
homeowner has earned more from
their property since the pandemic
began than the average worker has
taken home in pay. The Office for
National Statistics says that median
pay is £31,772 but after tax and national
insurance is deducted, the actual
amount taken home falls to £25,298.
Rightmove said that in 20 years of
tracking prices it had never recorded
such a large increase in cash terms over
a two-year period.
It added that “activity levels remain
strong” and still significantly higher
than before the pandemic although
there were signs that the frenetic
activity of the past few years was
starting to ease.
The company said that the number of
buyers contacting estate agents over
the past month was 31 per cent higher
than in 2019 but down 14 per cent year
on year. However, it added that a lack of
Homes pay more
than salaries with
£55,000 Covid rise
Andrew Ellson
Consumer Affairs Correspondent
supply was supporting prices even as
interest rates rise. It said that the
number of available properties was
down 16 per cent on this time last year
and down 55 per cent on 2019, with new
stock “desperately needed” for two and
three bedroom semi-detached homes.
Tim Bannister, director of data
services at Rightmove, said: “People
may be wondering why the housing
market is seemingly running in the
opposite direction to the wider
economy at the moment. What the
data is showing us right now is that
those who have the ability to do so are
prioritising their home and moving,
and the imbalance between supply and
demand is supporting rising prices.
“Though demand is softening from
the heady levels we saw this time last
year, the number of buyers inquiring is
still significantly higher than during the
last ‘normal’ market of 2019, while the
number of homes for them to choose
from remains more constrained.
“We anticipate that the effects of the
increased cost of living and rising
interest rates will filter through to the
market later in the year, and that a
combination of more supply of homes
and people weighing up what they can
afford will help to moderate the
market.”
Rightmove reported that four
consecutive monthly increases in the
cost of borrowing have pushed average
monthly mortgage payments back
above average rental payments.
However, historically low interest rates
make mortgage payments only 11 per
cent higher than ten years ago while
rental payments are 40 per cent higher.Rising damp A misty dawn at Corfe Castle, Dorset, yesterday. Today will be unsettled with rain and showers Weather, page 51RACHELBAKER/BNPSTypical job
ad in capital
offers £45k
The average job vacancy in London and
surrounding commutable areas now
comes with a salary in excess of
£45,000, according to an employment
website.
Adzuna said that strong interest in
vacancies suggested that parts of the
country were facing a “great resig-
nation”, with every job listing in the
capital being viewed more than 64
times last month.
More than half a million vacancies
were on offer in London and commuta-
ble areas, offering an average salary of
£45,515, it said. Manchester, Birming-
ham, Edinburgh and Cardiff also had
high rates of interest in advertised jobs.
Paul Lewis, of Adzuna, said jobs in
commuter towns were particularly
popular, driven by greater interest in
spending more time at home.
“As offices have reopened and com-
mutes have restarted, workers are look-
ing for close-to-home options that will
continue to give them the flexibility
they got used to over the pandemic and
various lockdowns, be that picking the
kids up from school or simply working
flexible hours,” he said.
“The return to the office is a huge
driver of high movement between jobs,
and companies offering fully remote
options, or even ‘work from anywhere’
policies, are stealing a march on the
competition and coming out on top.”
HSBC chief
suspended in
climate row
HSBC has suspended a senior execu-
tive who compared the climate crisis
to the millennium bug, it was reported
last night.
Stuart Kirk, global head of responsi-
ble investing at HSBC Asset Manage-
ment, gave a speech in London last
week titled “Why investors need not
worry about climate risk”.
He was said to have asked: “Who
cares if Miami is six metres under water
in 100 years? Amsterdam has been six
metres underwater for ages and that is
a really nice place.”
He also complained that throughout
his career there had always been “some
nutjob telling me about the end of
the world”.
Kirk has been suspended pending an
internal investigation into the presen-
tation, according to the Financial Times.
Over the weekend senior executives
at HSBC distanced themselves from
Kirk’s comments.
However, the presentation’s theme
and content had been agreed internally
before Kirk spoke, according to the
newspaper, which cited people with
knowledge of the event’s planning.
The title of the presentation was
agreed two months in advance and had
been publicised on a website in the
run-up to the event.Charlie Moloney