London and the South East push up UK house prices in July, but property gets cheaper in Scotland and the North East
House prices climbed 0.8 per cent July, the Office for National Statistics said this morning, keeping annual house price growth above five per cent.
Year-on-year price growth was 5.2 per cent, down from 5.7 per cent in June. The East, South East and London led UK’s annual price growth, while houses actually got cheaper in Scotland and the North East.
Price growth is expected to pick up during the remainder of the year, according to a recent survey of surveyors. Halifax has also said that prices jumped 2.7 in August alone.
“London usually leads the charge in terms of UK house price growth, but it’s been kicked into touch for a few months now by improvements in the East and the South East. Nevertheless, property values in the capital are steadily gaining ground and are comfortably above where they were last summer when 2014’s energetic first half started running out of steam,” said Peter Rollings, chief executive of estate agents Marsh & Parsons.
“However, the property market in London has evaded a number of challenges – such as the threat of mansion tax and coming to terms with the stamp duty reforms – in the last year and emerged all the stronger for it."