House prices 'stayed strong in July'

The Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) has released its latest house price data, revealing that the average home in the UK cost £218,479 in July.

This is an increase from £214,222 in June, while annual price inflation stood at 12.4 per cent in July, up from 12.1 per cent the previous month.

In London, annual house price inflation was 19.1 per cent in July, compared to 17.5 per cent in June, and three-monthly price growth stood at 17 per cent, compared to 11.8 per cent across the UK.

Market analysis firm Global Insight pointed out that the DCLG's annual inflation figure for July was the highest since March 2005 and seemed to suggest a degree of market resilience to interest rate rises.

However it was also stressed that the DCLG figures suffer from a slight time lag as they are based on the time when mortgages are completed.

"The DCLG data are for July and there is data and survey evidence available for August (including from the Nationwide and Halifax) which suggest overall that house prices have peaked, although they are still relatively robust," Global Insight said.

"We expect house price growth to trend gradually and erratically lower over the coming months and then settle down into an extended period of very modest rises."

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