First-time Buyer
UK house prices rose 5.7 per cent in May
UK house prices rose by 5.7 per cent in the 12 months to May taking the value of the average home to £274,000, government figures reveal.
The UK house price index from the Office of National Statistics put Northern Ireland in pole position for annual growth with a 10.5% rise in the value of homes in May compared to 8.8% in April.
This was followed by a 5.8% rise in England showing no movement on the previous month, a 2.9% increase in Scotland up from 2.2% and 2.5% growth in Wales up from 1.3% in April.
May’s annual rise takes the average home in Northern Ireland to £152,000; England £286,000; Scotland £193,000 and Wales £170,000.
The East and South East were the main drivers of house price inflation in May, with a 9.3% increase and 8.2% rise respectively.
Prices paid by owner occupiers rose by 5.9% in the 12 months to May compared to last year and 5.1% for first-time buyers.
Jonathan Hopper, managing director of Garrington Property Finders, said: “After years of extreme polarisation, the regional disparities of the property market are steadily shrinking as price growth becomes more broadly-based.
“East England powered in part by an extraordinary surge in activity in Cambridge has snatched the crown of the English region with the fastest-growing property values.”
But Hopper said even the North East of England, an area which was hit hardest by the slump, was now clocking up price growth of nearly 2% a year.
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