There’s a small window of opportunity to buy London properties for cheaper this year

Reuters

Britain’s property prices are almost out of control and are set to keep on rising for the next five years at least.

However, the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors revealed on Thursday that there’s a small window of opportunity to buy a London property at a cheaper price this year and before they start skyrocketing again.

Little supply but high demand has pushed the average price of houses in Britain to £284,000 while the price to buy a home in London is now at a huge £524,000, according to the Office for National Statistics.

High home prices have become so normal that developer Telford Homes, which focuses on “non-prime” areas of London, said on Wednesday that with average prices “comfortably below £600,000” its apartments are “relatively affordable.”

To put this into perspective, the average Briton earns around £27,600 in a year and around £30,000 in the UK’s capital.

So when is the prime time to buy?

According to a RICS survey, most surveyors in London expect prices to fall over the next three months due to the increase in stamp duty— a tax placed on buyers when they purchase a property — for buyers of a second home and the uncertainty surrounding the outcome of the referendum on the European Union on June 23.

After that, house are set to rise again by over 4% at least across the country.

“The imbalance between demand and supply will still exert a strong influence on the market, with house prices expected to rise by close to 25% over the next five years,” said Simon Rubinsohn, chief economist at RICS.

Countless areas of research from the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors, estate agent Savills, the Council of Mortgage Lenders, and bank analysts have all said prices will continue to rise over the next five years. Even a study published by Santander showed average house prices across the country will more than double to around £500,000 over the next 15 years.