Land Registry figures provide evidence of housing boom in Q2 |
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Tue, 08 Aug 2006 09:45
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LONDON - Houses in England and Wales became more expensive in the second quarter with the average price of a house moving up to nearly 200,000 pounds according to the Land Registry reports. This is an increase of 7.71 percent from £184,924 at the same time last year.
The Land Registry also revealed that the number of houses sold has also increased by nearly 25 percent to 268,430 in the second quarter from April to June this year. London, which is the most expensive place to buy a house, saw an increase in the number of house sales to 26.7 percent with the average cost of a house rising by 8.3 percent to 317,679 pounds.
Though the north of England remains the cheapest place to buy a house, the prices are increasing at a rate of 11.1 percent, which is more than any other in the country. Sales of expensive houses also increased with 1,246 properties worth more than £1 million being sold in the second quarter compare to 718 properties sold last year.
Analysts however are apprehensive that the boom bubble would burst after the Bank of England unexpectedly increased the bank's repo rate by 0.25 percent last week. Milan Khatri, chief economist at the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors, thinks that the Bank would still increase the interest rates a further 0.25 percent.
"However, we see the Bank of England's pre-emptive action in raising interest rates as a welcome move to forestall future inflation pressures in the economy, and is the best means of avoiding the scenario of the early 1990s when high and rising inflation contributed to a hard landing for the housing market," he said.
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House prices rise, but at the slowest rate since 1996, says Land Registry 