£20,000 leap in house sellers' asking prices from start of year, says Rightmove

House sellers' asking prices have ended the year nearly £20,000 higher than when 2015 started, according to Rightmove.

And in a year's time, asking prices will be another £17,000 higher than they are now as the "stark imbalance" between housing supply and demand from buyers continues to push property values to more record highs, the website predicts.

Rightmove's figures, which cover England and Wales, show that sellers are now demanding £289,452 for a home on average. This is £19,975 higher than the typical asking price in December 2014, which was £269,477.%VIRTUAL-ArticleSidebar-property-guide%

The £17,000 increase predicted by Rightmove would push the average price tag on a property well over the £300,000 mark by the end of 2016.

Already, asking prices in London are typically £55,458 or 9.9% higher than they were a year ago, having reached around £616,548.

The South East and the East of England have seen the next strongest price growth over 2015, with average asking prices have pushed up by 9.2% over the last year, taking them to £381,609 and £309,839 respectively.

No region across England and Wales has seen average asking prices fall over the last year, according to Rightmove.

The smallest annual percentage increase was recorded in Wales, where average asking prices have edged up by 0.6% or £981 over 2015 to reach £163,453.

Over 2015, asking prices have increased by 1.4% in the North East of England, by 2.8% in Yorkshire and the Humber, by 4.7% in the North West of England, by 5.7% in the East Midlands, by 5.5% in the West Midlands and by 5% in the South West of England.

Asking prices have already hit a string of record highs across England and Wales this year.

While average asking prices did fall slightly month-on-month in December this year, the dip of 1.1% or £3,120 was the smallest recorded since 2006.

Miles Shipside, director of Rightmove, said: "Whilst a fall is the norm at this time of year, this is December's best post-financial-crash performance, signalling another round of price rises in 2016.

"Despite the shortage of suitable stock in many parts of the market, demand for housing is on the up. Although the average price of property coming to market is already up by a hefty 7.4% compared to a year ago, Rightmove forecasts that prices will reach and breach new records next year."

Rightmove said that with further price hikes on the horizon, more young professionals may give up on the idea of London living and instead head for vibrant cities such as Manchester, Leeds, Edinburgh and Cardiff. There may also be more buyers looking for value in areas which are north and west of London next year, it suggested.

This could spell further upward pressure on prices in these areas amid growing demand.

Mr Shipside said that while initiatives such as Help to Buy will encourage developers to build more new homes, this will take time.

He said: "In the meantime strong demand is being further fuelled by the additional momentum and aspiration for home ownership that schemes such as Help to Buy create.

"We therefore predict that the average asking price will be another £17,000 higher by the end of 2016."

Rightmove also said that the recent Autumn statement has created dilemmas for people looking to buy or sell a home.

From April 1 2016, people buying additional properties, such as buy-to-let properties and second homes, will pay an extra three percentage points above current stamp duty rates.

Mr Shipside suggested that people intending to become first-time sellers, having been first-time buyers when they bought the property they currently own, may want to put their property on the market sooner rather than later.

This is because those who are selling for the first time are likely to have cheaper properties which investors would consider suitable for renting out, so they may be able to take advantage of any surge in investors snapping up properties before the stamp duty changes come into force.

Mr Shipside said: "Given that the legal process could take six weeks or so once a buyer is found, they only have between now and the middle of February to take advantage of this artificially induced boost to buyer demand."

Meanwhile, aspiring first-time buyers may want to consider holding back until it is too late for buy-to-let investors to beat the stamp duty changes, as they may be able to secure a better deal, Mr Shipside suggested.

A spokesman for the Department of Communities and Local Government said: "We want to ensure anyone who aspires to own their own home has the opportunity to do so.

"Government initiatives have already helped more than 270,000 people to buy since 2010 and we are delivering 200,000 new starter homes.

"Latest figures show that the number of new homes are up by 25% and the Housing Bill will kick-start a national crusade to get one million homes built by 2020, including measures to reinvest in new affordable homes."