London Properties Reaches Half a Million in Prices

London's typical average homes are currently costing half a million pounds while in north-east England, home prices slipped below £100,000, The Guardian reported.

The new figures from the Land Registry reveals that the property prices in England and Wales stands at £186,553, increasing by 5.3% from last year, which is £6,000 higher than the average selling price back in 2007.

Prices have increased for almost 10% over the past 12 months wherein the average price of a home in London is £499,997 that is five times more than the price of homes in the North-East of England.

With this price, London already has twice the price of the second most expensive region which is the South-West wherein homes cost £256,000.

Analysts reveal that the increase would be hard for first-time buyers to land on the property ladder. Reports even indicate that buyers are accusing the Government of “pouring petrol on the house-price bonfire,” Mirror reported.

Buyers with five percent deposit will be paying £2,500 monthly for their mortgage while those with ten percent deposits would pay about £2,200 per month, for an average house in London.

“Asking prices nationally have risen by over 5 per cent in the past year and sale prices have followed suit. The only question is can this continue? Shrinking volumes would suggest not. Fewer homes at the top end of the housing ladder are selling since Stamp Duty rose last December," Property analyst Henry Pryor said.

“At the foot of the ladder home ownership in the capital is restricted to Lottery winners and trustafarians. The government seems intent on pouring more petrol on the house price bonfire with taxpayer funded schemes promoting home ownership over renting,” he added.

Pryor didn't see signs that prices of homes in London would arrive on this rate. He was even quoted saying, “When will this madness end? Not before 2020 at the earliest. Politically, rising prices are a good thing and usually trump the economic impact.”

Based on the Land Registry, July was the biggest month this year with a total reporting of 81,696 transactions but last year's transaction on the same month was even higher with 84,691 deals.