Rightmove: June sets house price rise record

Fears that the World Cup would depress the housing market appear unfounded following a record rise in house prices.

Rightmove, which has been monitoring house prices since August 2001, said that house prices have risen by more in the last four weeks than ever before.

Despite a month in which a large proportion of the population was glued to their TV sets, the average price of a home in England and Wales is now £217,580, having climbed by 2.9 per cent - £6,137 – in only a month.

The rise, which means house prices are now 10.6 per cent higher than the same time last year, was largely driven by rises in prices in the south of England.

Rightmove commercial director Miles Shipside said: "The last month has seen the biggest rise in nearly five years, but it is skewed by the increases in the southern half of the country, particularly in the south-east, where prices rocketed by over £12,000."

"Buyers are faced with paying record prices. These are now set to defy all expectations for 2006."

Prices in London and the south-east rose by 4.7 per cent in the four weeks to July 8th, putting average prices in the capital 13.8 per cent above last year at £324,216.

"We are talking about a London phenomenon," said Mr Shipside.

"The number of enquiries for London properties keeps increasing. This combined with a shortage of supply pushes prices up. It's a sign of a really strong market when the onset of summer holidays fails to dent demand."

Despite this, some areas of the country actually witnessed falls in house prices during the last four weeks. Asking prices in Yorkshire & Humberside fell by 1.6 per cent, while in the east Midlands they dropped 0.7 per cent. XXX