House price growth accelerates across UK

Posted: 06 Apr 2006 10:37:20 GMT

The Quarterly Regional Review from Nationwide has found that house price growth is picking up throughout the UK, with house values increasing in all regions during the first three months of the year.

While investors are doubtlessly delighted, the average homebuyer will be looking for ways to ease the burden of the transaction, with pricing in London rising ominously.

Compared to the fourth quarter of 2005, house prices have increased by 2.3 per cent, which is the fastest quarterly increase since the third quarter of 2004.

Looking back to the first quarter last year, house values have experienced a 4.9 per cent rise, taking the average price up to £160,319.

In the last few years, the London market has been stabilising to some extent, with prices rising more moderately than in some other areas in the UK, but the new research suggests that growth is again steep.

With prices rising by 2.2 per cent in the quarter and five per cent during the year, Nationwide has pointed to a distinct recovery in the capital, with the annual rate of growth higher than the UK average for the first time in four years.

Prices are also shooting up in the north-west and in Yorkshire and Humberside, while growth in the Midlands, many northern regions and East Anglia is slightly slower.


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