House prices creep up

The average price of a property in London nudged towards half a million pounds in December, according to figures published today.

Data from the Office of National Statistics revealed that the average price of a home in the capital was £483,922, up 1.6% on November’s figure.

The average price of a property nationwide in December was £234,742, up 2.2% year-on-year, and 1.7% on the previous month.

The fastest growing areas in the UK last year were the Humber and Yorkshire, where prices rose nearly 4%. The South-east saw the smallest increase, up 1.2%.

The latest figures were unlikely to have taken into account any improvement in sentiment following the general election, although industry watchers have predicted that an end to the political uncertainty of the past 12 months would  give prices a boost.

Noting that London was a barometer for the market’s health, Marc von Grundherr, director of lettings and sales agent Benham & Reeves, said: “London has languished at the depths of the house price rankings for months on end but has not only shown signs of life in recent months but shifted through the standings considerably, registering strong price growth on both a monthly and annual basis.

“If ever there were a sign that the tides are turning, this is it,” he added.

Jerald Solis, director of property investment firm Experience Invest, said: “There is no denying the importance of today’s findings. Just like the FTSE 100, residential real estate has also experienced a surge in investment activity in the aftermath of last year’s general election.

”For the majority of 2019, house price growth was modest – most investors chose to adopt a “wait and see” approach until they had a better indication of how Brexit could play out. As today’s findings show, December provided the breakthrough the market was hoping for.”