House prices pass £200,000

Friday, 10 March 2006 12:00 AM

The average house price in England and Wales is now £200,255, official data indicates.

This is the first time it has passed the £200,000 barrier - with soaring prices in London driving up values across the country.

The new figures - based on Land Registry data and compiled by Acadametrics - show that the average price of a home in the capital has risen 5.7 per cent in the last three months alone, more than double the rise of the next best performing region.

Overall, house prices in England and Wales rose 0.8 per cent in February, although outside London prices rose by the lower figure of 0.5 per cent.

"After a period of broad stability in UK house prices, the market now appears to be strengthening led by London," said Gary Styles, chief economist and chairman of Acadametrics.

"We could now be set for a pattern of smooth and steady adjustment in national house prices if the increases seen in London spread to other regions.

"The house price gains in London in the last three months have been much stronger than any other region at over five per cent and this has completely overshadowed the performance of the rest of the south.

"Whilst the south-west and Yorkshire have experienced house price growth of over two per cent in the last quarter this has not been widespread. The majority of regions have seen prices grow only modestly by around 0.5 per cent to 1.0 per cent in the same period and East Midlands has actually experienced a fall."

And Mr Styles was optimistic about the months to come.

"We expect house prices to show further modest growth in the coming months as market expectations become more upbeat and the medium term economic prospects improve," he said.

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