House prices rise £11k after summer bounce

A SUMMER bounce in property prices helped add £11,000 to the value of the average home over the last 12 months, official figures showed yesterday.

An annual increase of 5.1 per cent pushed the cost of the typical three-bed semi to £226,000 in July compared to £215,000 in 2016.

A hefty chunk of the increase, £2,000, was added in June alone – a time of the year the market normally slows down.

The region that enjoyed the most growth was the East Midlands.

The area, which includes Derbyshire, Leicestershire, Nottinghamshire and several other counties, saw a 7.5 per cent rise.

This was followed by the East at 7.1 per cent and the South West at seven, figures from the National Office for Statistics show. The lowest growth was in London, at 2.8 per cent, followed by the South-east at 3.8 per cent.

The local authority showing the largest annual growth in the year to July 2017 was in the Cotswolds, where prices went up 16.2 per cent.

By countries, prices rose 5.4 per cent in England, 4.8 in Scotland, 4.4 in Northern Ireland and 3.1 in Wales.

London still has the highest average house price of £489,000 while the North-east has the lowest at £133,000.

Mark Weedon of Property Partner said: “Owners will be heartened by the figures. The market remains stable and the traditional summer slowdown in housing does not appear to have dampened prices.”