House prices jump £3,800 in a month to a new high as buy-to-let stampede unleashes wave of 'trader-uppers'

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House prices jumped £3,800 in April to hit another high as buy-to-let investors rushing to beat the stamp duty hike last month had a knock-on effect of energising the higher sectors of the market, new figures have revealed.

The average asking property price in England and Wales rose 1.3 per cent to £307,033 this month and house prices have risen 7.3 per cent compared to April last year, according to property website Rightmove.

Buy-to-let investors who pushed sales through last month, before the 3 per cent hike in stamp duty from April 1, have unleashed a wave of ‘trader-uppers’. Increased demand for bigger properties from second-steppers has contributed to push prices higher this month, Rightmove said.

Looking up: Increased demand for bigger properties from second-steppers has contributed to push prices higher this month, Rightmove said

‘While some felt that there would be a stampede of existing landlords selling to other landlords, these figures indicate that many of those who sold during the buy-to-let rush were actually first-time sellers looking to trade up,' Rightmove director Miles Shipside said.

‘They used the heightened demand from investors competing fiercely with first-time buyers to springboard themselves on to the next rung of the housing ladder.

‘After several years of being held back from moving by post-credit crunch price doldrums, they have now benefited from a heady combination of price growth, historically cheap interest rates, and confidence of a quick sale with purchasers working to a tight deadline.’

Three or four bedrooms properties - the typical second-stepper sector - have increased in price by more than £1,500, or 0.6 per cent, between March and April. 

On the other hand, the price for smaller homes with one or two bedrooms has fallen by nearly £2,700, or 1.4 per cent, to £182,926. This is because demand for such properties, which are the usual choice of buy-to-let investors and first-time buyers, has dissipated after last month's stampede to beat the stamp duty hike, Rghtmove said. 

On the rise: 

Lenders have slashed rates on buy-to-let mortgages to record lows in a drive to keep the market alive following the buy-to-let crackdown by George Osborne.

But last week, a Bank of England survey of lenders found that demand for buy-to-let loans was expected to fall 'significantly' in the coming months. 

Rightmove’s figures also showed that prices in London have increased at a slower pace than in the East of England, which recorded the biggest regional growth in April.

The price of the average home in the capital rose 8.7 per cent in the year to April to reach £646,200, while in the east of England it jumped 10.8 per cent to £331,780.

The smallest annual rise was in Wales, with property prices 1.2 per cent higher compared to last year at £178,975.  

Regions: Asking prices have risen across the country, with the Eeast of England seeing the biggest rise