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UK House Prices Rise More Than Expected In August

The ONS said that while the 5.2% annual headline rate was the joint lowest since September 2013, the ongoing shortage of housing supply combined with strengthening demand suggested upward pressure on house prices remained.

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House prices for first-time buyers surged to a record high in August, with the typical first-time buyer paying 3.8pc more than they would have done a year earlier.

House prices in Northern Ireland are still 43 per cent below their 2007 peak, reaching £151,000 in August after increasing by 2.9 per cent over the a year ago.

Rich homeowners in London are being forced to slash the price of their £1million houses as the capital’s property market dramatically cools.

The overall price of materials and fuels bought by United Kingdom manufacturers for processing – total input prices – declined 13.3% in the year to September, an improvement on the 14.6% fall in the year to August.

The average United Kingdom mix-adjusted house price was GBP 284,000 in August versus GBP 282,000 in the previous month.

‘It is also the lower to mid-range properties priced between £180,000 and £360,000 which are seeing the fastest increases in value, while the shift in stamp duty bands continues to slow growth at the higher end of the market, and prices above £600,000 are largely stationary, ‘ he explained.

According to the latest LSL / Acadata England & Wales House Price Index there were 84,000 property sales in September 2015, up 3% on August and representing the strongest September for property transactions since 2007.

Annual house price growth was led by an 8.8 percent increase in the East and 7.4 percent rise in the South East.

While London still has the most expensive property prices, at £522,000 on average, they are slightly down compared with July, the ONS said.

“Prices on new homes rose by 9.5 per cent on average compared to 4.8 per cent for pre-owned properties, which implies the premium attached to new build homes is increasing”.

It comes amid claims nearly one in five properties worth more than £1million have cut their asking price as a result of George Osborne’s stamp duty overhaul which hiked bills on seven-figure homes.

A few of the price reductions at the higher end of the market have been huge as trophy properties languish for years on agents’ books.

The North East of England is the only English region where house prices have yet to surpass their 2008 peak, with average values there standing at £160,000.

‘With ultra-hotspots like Cambridge powering East Anglia to a level of annual price growth that was once typical of London, north/south divide remains firmly in place.

Nicholas Leeming, Chairman of national agents Jackson-Stops & Staff, with 44 offices nationwide, said that record levels of prices reflect the combination of restricted supply and sustained demand.

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Under the new system any home sold for less than £937,500 cost less in stamp duty than under the old system. The number of properties coming on to the market remains low at the top end, ‘ he added.

House prices surged to a record peak of �284,000 on average across the UK in August after climbing by �2,000 month-on-month official figures show