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U.K. Home Asking Prices Jump to Near-Record High After Election

U.K. Home Asking Prices Jump to Near-Record High After Election

(Bloomberg) --

Asking prices for U.K. homes rose to a near-record this month after Boris Johnson’s Brexit breakthrough lifted confidence, website-operator Rightmove said.

Values increased 0.8% on the month to an average 309,399 pounds ($400,000) it said Monday. In London, they gained 2.7% from a month earlier as uncertainty about the country’s future with the European Union started to lift.

U.K. Home Asking Prices Jump to Near-Record High After Election

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.”

While the housing market is still supported by low interest rates, record employment and a shortage of homes, the period of Brexit uncertainty isn’t over. Johnson has until the end of the year to finish a trade deal, which experts say will be a difficult task.

To contact the reporter on this story: Brian Swint in London at bswint@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Paul Gordon at pgordon6@bloomberg.net, Fergal O'Brien, Catherine Bosley

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