Homebuyers now wait up to 28 years between house moves as housing scarcity keeps upward pressure on prices.
The rate of house price inflation across UK cities accelerated in the three months to April as record low mortgage rates support buying power and a scarcity of housing ensures prices keep on rising.
The Hometrack UK Cities House Price Index, published today, grew by an average of 1.4% over the three months to April.
That is the highest three-month average growth rate for a decade, and beats last year's figure of 1.2%.
Prices grew in London by 11% but just 3.5% in Liverpool, although that is the smallest spread since 1996.
Many cities are still behind their 2007 peak, notably Belfast (-49.1%), Liverpool (-14.9%) and Glasgow (-13.6%).
Despite a recent pick-up in housing turnover, the average time between moves in some cities is up to 28 years.
That is double the average of every 14 years between 2003 and 2007.
A 30% drop in the proportion of moves by existing mortgaged homeowners is starving the market of a source of new supply and driving prices upwards.
Richard Donnell, director of research at residential analyst Hometrack, said house price increases are being driven by the improving economic outlook, record low mortgage rates and a low churn of housing stock which is creating scarcity of supply.
"Home buyers and investors shrugged off the run up to the General Election and continued to bid up the cost of housing with average house prices across the 20 cities index up by an average of 1.4% in the three months to April.
"Record low mortgage rates, which are more than half the level of 2007, are boosting buying power, while low rates of housing turnover creates housing scarcity and is keeping an upward pressure on house prices."
Donnell said less movement among existing mortgaged homeowners is starving the market of new supply. "Higher moving costs and an inability or unwillingness to finance a home purchase are all factors driving fewer moves by existing homeowners.
"The shift to a low inflation environment also has an important longer term impact as it erodes mortgage debt more slowly than when inflation is higher.
"Households cannot rely on inflation to shrink their debt in real terms as much as they did in say the 1980s meaning longer periods between moves is a trend that is here to stay."
"Growing illiquidity of housing is a major challenge for the new Government and is set to make house prices more volatile than in the past."
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