November saw accelerating house prices
THE HOUSING market heated up in November, according to the most comprehensive official data, released yesterday.
The Office for National Statistics’ house price index climbed 2.1 per cent in the 12 months to November 2012, up from the 1.5 per cent growth recorded in the year to October. This overall acceleration was driven by soaring London prices, which shot up five per cent between November 2011 and November 2012, adding 1.6 percentage points to the growth rate in just one month.
These figures, which include the cash-driven top end of the market, work in line with data from Rightmove, LSL and the Land Registry, by suggesting accelerating growth in the month. However they go against figures from Nationwide and Halifax, which include only mortgage-financed house purchases, which say prices fell during November.
And prices are expected to continue on their upward trend, a survey from Zoopla revealed this morning. Sixty-five per cent of UK homeowners believe prices will go up in the coming six months, the Zoopla data shows.