House prices up

House prices rose in January, new government figures have revealed.

Figures from the Department for Communities and Local Government showed that the average house price in England and Wales rose in the month to £221,758 from £218,007 in December 2007.

This represented an increase of 1.7 per cent, compared with a 0.9 per cent rise over the previous three months put together.

Such a finding may represent the beginning of an acceleration in prices again, January being the first month after the Bank of England started to cut interest rates.

Those looking for a cheaper home may therefore look to the self build option instead.

Another recent survey which indicated a house price rise was that of the Financial Times last week, which recorded a 0.5 per cent increase in February.

This figure followed an increase of 0.2 per cent in January.


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