House prices “still accelerating”

30 May 2007

New figures show that house prices are rising more than twice as fast as they were a year ago.

The Land Registry says Brighton and Hove has joined Greater London as the place in England and Wales where house prices are rising fastest.  Property prices went up by 15.6% in those places in the year to April.  It says the average home in England and Wales now costs £179,935, which is a £15,000 more than a year ago.

In April 2006, annual house price inflation was running at 4.1%, according to the Land Registry.  By April 2007, it was running at 9.1%.  It says that overall prices are being driven by the market in London, where the cost of buying a home has been rising much faster than in England and Wales as a whole.

These figures from the Land Registry back up other house price surveys from mortgage lenders, the Nationwide and Halifax.  They’ve suggested that house price inflation has been running in double figures.

However, some figures in the industry are predicting that the market will cool off.  David Stubbs from the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors, said:  “The acceleration in price growth reflects the strength of the market in previous months but does not signal further strength in the future.  Price rises will moderate as the year progresses.”