The average London house price rose 3.1% to reach £383,930. It is the highest price recorded and the fifteenth month capital prices have beaten the boom-era high of £350,900. Wales saw the second highest rise month-on-month growth in house prices, at 2.9%.
However, prices dropped by 2.2% in the North East, meaning the average house price remained below £100,000 for the ninth month in a row. The North West, Yorkshire & the Humber, the East Midlands, the East and the South West also saw house prices fall.
Mortgage Advice Bureau head of lending Brian Murphy said Help to Buy continued to heat up the housing market: “Increased buyer interest has also reignited competition between lenders. Product numbers rose to nearly 10,000 in June to their highest since November 2011, while fixed rate deals have been in freefall for almost a year.
“This week’s discussions over the second part of Help to Buy has attracted even more interest in the initiative, and less affluent buyers will be relieved that second homes won’t qualify for government help.
“A crucial challenge for the Treasury will be to cement the finer details of the mortgage guarantee to encourage the majority of lenders to participate and improve product pricing.”
The north-south split in housing market activity was also clear from the levels of applications for registration, an indication of property sales. Almost a quarter of applications came from the South East and a fifth came from Greater London, compared to only 5% from the north.
