UK house prices rise 3%
27th Apr 2012
The UK housing market had a strong start to the year, according to the latest report, with a three per cent rise in house prices in the first quarter.
That is according to the new Assetz House Price Watch, which analyses house price data from the Office for National Statistics, LSL Acadametrics, Halifax and Nationwide and Rightmove.
It shows that the average price of a UK property is currently £202,017, which is an increase of £5,864 since December and the highest average house price recorded by House Price Watch since July 2008.
Overall, the annualised average rate of growth now stands at 10.3 per cent, with the three and six-month annualised rates of growth being 12.17 per cent and 3.73 per cent, respectively.
Stuart Law, chief executive of Assetz, said the year has got off to a great start, considering the continued economic pressure.
He also pointed to recent HMRC figures, which showed a large surge in completed sales in March, up 17 per cent in a month, as house buying demand continued to grow," he added.
"We feel that our estimate of a three per cent rise in UK house prices for the whole year of 2012, which was at the top of the range of forecasts, could be comfortably achieved, regardless of the initial version of the GDP figures released today indicating that the economy is falling slightly again," the expert commented.
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