House prices carry on rising

Annual house price growth accelerated to 12.6 per cent in February, up from 11.2 per cent in January and the strongest pace since June last year, acording to the Nationwide house price index.

Prices rose by 1.7 per cent month on month, the seventh consecutive monthly increase. Nationwide say the price of a typical home rose above £260,000 for the first time in February, an increase of £29,162 over the past 12 months. This is the largest ever annual increase in cash terms since the start of our monthly index in 1991.

The price of a typical home is now 20 per cent higher than in February 2020 – the month before the pandemic struck the UK.