Property prices rise, again

The latest official figures show house prices in England and Wales rose 17 per cent over the last year.

15:46 09 August 2004

The latest official figures show house prices in England and Wales rose 17 per cent over the last year.

The figures from the Land Registry show that the average house price stood at 175,401 between April and June this year.

"The figures from the Land Registry are the most accurate but they're also the most historic," Ray Boulger, from mortgage broker Charcol, told the BBC.

"These figures are based on completions in the three months to June which mean they will reflect transactions which were broadly agreed in the period December last year up to March this year."

"So the base rate increases we had in May and June... won't be reflected in any way in these figures."

The report looks at the average prices and sales volumes when compared with the same three-month period in 2003.

But while house prices continue to rise overall, there are some significant regional differences.

The steepest hikes in average price were in Middlesborough and Blaenau Gwent - where prices rocketed 59 per cent. However, prices in both these areas were still relatively low.

In Middlesborough the average house cost just 90,744 while the average house price in Surrey stood at 300,647.

In fact, although prices in Blaenau Gwent went up 59 per cent, this represented an increase of 24,432 to the average price. In Surrey prices rose an average of 14 per cent - but this represented a real-terms increase of 33,654 on the previous year.

The south-east region overall saw the smallest rise in average house price, with Reading seeing an increase of just 330 year on year.

Prices in Wales increased fastest - with an average growth of 27.64 per cent. In fact five of the fastest increasing areas were in Wales.

The number of properties being bought and sold increased 22.13 per cent to 299,986.

In total 997 million-pound plus properties were sold - with 638 of these changing hands in Greater London.