London drives rising house prices
British house prices rose at their fastest pace for more than two years in October, according to a new survey, although this is almost solely down to a buoyant London market.
Hometrack, the property consultant, said house prices rose 4.9% this month compared with a year earlier, the fastest pace of growth on an annual basis since August 2004.
However the pick up in prices was due largely to a 9.9% rise in prices in the Capital from a year ago. The survey showed that the average property was up 0.4% in October.
(Article continues below)Advertisement
Hometrack said only two regions - London and the south-east - have seen house price inflation of more than 4% this year. Many other regions have seen much smaller increases.
Richard Donnell, director of research at Hometrack, said, "A flood of potentially over-priced properties coming to the market would certainly put an end to the recent level of price rises".
"There are clear signs that the momentum in the London market is starting to slow and this is likely to continue in the run-up to the New Year," he added.
