House price annual inflation was 10.7% in England, 3.5% in Wales, 6.0% in Scotland and 4.9% in Northern Ireland. Prices are increasing strongly across most parts of the UK, with prices in London again showing the highest growth.
Annual house price increases in England were driven by an annual increase in London of 19.3% and to a lesser extent increases in the South East (9.7%) and the East (7.9%). Excluding London and the South East, UK house prices increased by 6.3% in the 12 months to June 2014.
On a seasonally adjusted basis, average house prices increased by 0.5% between May and June 2014. In June 2014, prices paid by first-time buyers were 12.0% higher on average than in June 2013. For owner-occupiers (existing owners), prices increased by 9.5% for the same period.
Stephen Johnson, Managing Director, Commercial Mortgages, Shawbrook Bank:
“It is encouraging for the balance of the housing market that house prices in regions outside the Southeast are steadily rising. The strength of house prices over the next year has been questioned recently, but the continued strong growth shown in today’s ONS figures suggests it might be too soon to tell if these questions can be answered. However, the factors being attributed to the cooling of house prices have limited implications for the private rental sector.
"Whether it’s the MMR, the new mortgage limits on the Help to Buy scheme, or the continued lack of certainty around new housing supply, they are of less concern to property investors. This is particularly true for those who are confident in their prediction that base rates will not remain this low forever.”
Jeremy Duncombe, Director Legal & General Mortgage Club, comments:
“The first six months of this year have seen very rapid house price growth which is not the good news that some homeowners think. Rapid house price inflation makes it harder for people to afford to move house and prices many out of the market. Over the coming months a healthy housing market would be characterised by growth at the same level as inflation and at a consistent rate across the whole of the country. Regional differences in house price inflation remains an issue and a key challenge for the remainder of the year will be balancing measures to control London without dampening other parts of the country where growth is lower.”
