Residential property prices in England and Wales grew by 5.6 percent in the year to October, and has seen a 0.4 percent growth from the month before, taking the average value to £186,350.
Land Registry figures has shown that on a regional basis, London has experienced the greatest increase in its property value with a rise of 10.6 percent over the last 12 months, and the average cost of a residential property in the capital is at £503,431, an article on PropertyWire.com reported.
The director of Reeds Rains and Your Move estate agents, Adrian Gill, stated that the average price of a residential property in London is now above half a million and "already rising in value much faster than elsewhere across the country," the article further mentioned. Gill added that "the reverberations from last year's stamp duty surprise" are still felt around the market, and "million pound property sales have suffered significantly."
When it comes to future price increases, Gill stated that "only time will tell whether the extra 3 percent stamp duty levy on buy to let and second home buyers will affect the market."
But, according to him, there "will be a scramble for second home purchases before the April deadline, which will only amp up the existing competition between landlords and first-time buyers in the housing market."
Meanwhile, the North East has seen the greatest monthly growth with a 1.9 percent increase from the previous month, while Yorkshire and the Humber has seen the lowest year on year price increase at 1.4 percent, and the most significant decrease in month on month prices with a decline of 1.8 perent.
Official data were revealed hours after Nationwide has released its own market study, which takes in the current month of November.
While house prices have increased in London, data shows that sales and repossessions in England and Wales, as of August this year, decreased by 15 percent to 74,595 compared with the 87,895 in August 2014.
Repossessions of residential properties in England and Wales have decreased by 54 percent to 376 compared with 826 in August 2014. Yorkshire and the Humber show the greatest fall in the number of repossession sales.
Data also shows that the number of properties sold in England and Wales for over £1 million has decreased by 13 percent to 1,280 from 1,473 a year earlier.
