London sales 'driving house price growth'

House price growth was just 0.4 per cent in June, with London prices continuing to shore up the UK market, new figures from the Land Registry show.

The government department's statistics reveal that the annual change in UK house prices, based on completed residential transactions in June, now stands at 9.1 per cent, but this figure rises to 15.8 per cent for London.

The rate of growth in London last month was 1.5 per cent, the research revealed.

"There is evidence of increased growth rate divergence between London and the rest of the country, however across England and Wales as a whole, growth remains positive," the report noted.

"The June data shows that for the third month in a row the rate of increase for London house prices remains over six per cent per annum greater than that of England and Wales as a whole," it added.

"We predict Land Registry data will show an increase in prices again in July – the last gasp of the price boom – before starting to start drop back slightly in August. September is also likely to be a more sober month as homebuyers start to ask for larger discounts relative to asking price," commented David Newnes, managing director of Your Move, which published its own assessment of the housing market on Friday.


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