Average house prices top £200,000

Posted: 08 Nov 2006 10:33:13 GMT

Average house prices in the UK have grown to above £200,000, figures from the Land Registry have shown

Average house prices in the UK have grown to above £200,000, figures from the Land Registry have shown.

The average home is now worth £211,453 following nine per cent growth over the course of 2006, said the agency.

The number of properties trading hands between June and September was up 17 per cent on the same period of 2005.

The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (Rics) said that the figures should encourage the Bank of England to raise interest rates this week.

"The Bank of England will be well advised to act this week," Milan Khatri of Rics told This is Money.

"A pre-emptive rise in interest rates will help to contain inflation pressures and wage rises in the next year, providing for a more stable economic environment.

"The experience of late 2003 and 2004 shows that it takes several rounds of interest rate rises to take the heat out of the housing market when the economy is performing well."

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