London house prices pull away from UK again
HOUSE prices in the capital surged again in April, despite fears over taxes during the election, as London’s market remains detached from that of the rest of the UK.
Figures from the Land Registry show the average price in London rose 2.3 per cent in April alone, and 10.9 per cent in the year, coming in at £474,544.
By contrast, the average price in England and Wales more broadly is £179,817 – up 0.9 per cent on the month and 5.1 per cent on the year.
It comes after average prices fell 0.8 per cent in March.
The cheapest properties are in the north-east of England, at an average of £98,374. Prices in the region fell by 0.5 per cent in the month and 0.6 per cent over the past year.
As a result of the rebound in the market, economists are upgrading their forecasts for house prices.
“We have lifted our forecast house price increase in 2015 to six per cent from five per cent, partly due to the increased upward impact on prices coming from a lack of properties on the market,” said Howard Archer, chief economist at IHS Global Insight.
“We also suspect that the housing market will benefit from reduced uncertainty following the decisive General Election result.”
By type of property, the Land Registry figures show detached properties sold for an average of £282,706. The average semi went for £170,470 in April – up most sharply, rising by 5.6 per cent on the month.
Terraced houses sold for £135,069, while flats and maisonettes went for £172,719.