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House prices jump but London growth lags

Paloma Kubiak
Written By:
Paloma Kubiak
Posted:
Updated:
14/11/2017

House prices jumped by an average £11,000 in the year to September with annual growth at 5.4%, official statistics revealed.

UK homes are now worth an average of £226,000, as year-on-year growth picked up from 4.8% in August, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

On a regional basis, prices in the North West grew at the fastest annual rate with an increase of 7.3%, followed by the South West and East Midland at 6.6% and 6.4% respectively.

Values in London had the lowest rate of growth at 2.5%, followed by the North East at 4.4%.

At a local authority level, Hinckley and Bosworth in Leicestershire recorded bumper price growth of 15.9% annually, while prices fell by 5.2% in Halton, Cheshire.

Private rental prices increased by 1.5% in the 12 months to October, down from 1.6% in September, ONS data also showed.

Price rises blow to first-time buyers

Critics said rising house prices remain a barrier to ownership for first-time buyers.

Ishaan Malhi, chief executive of online mortgage broker, Trussle, said: “Many people expressed concern for the housing market after Brexit, but prices are 5.4% higher than they were this time last year.

“That’s an £11,000 increase on the average UK home. With wages growing just 2.2% in the last 12 months, the growing challenge facing first-time buyers is plain to see.”

Jeremy Leaf, north London estate agent and a former RICS residential chairman, added: “Although these figures are a little historic they do show that even in late summer/early autumn, the market proved quite resilient even though a large proportion of the increase in prices reflects a shortage of stock.

“But the figures also show that although buyer numbers were down, those who were in the market were still prepared to pay a little bit more to get what they wanted.”