London house prices no longer steepest risers
HOUSE prices in the rest of the south-east and in East Anglia are now growing faster than those in London, according to figures out today from LSL Property Services.
Prices in London were 6.8 per cent higher in the three months to April than in the same period of 2014.
By contrast those in the rest of the south-east rose by 7.1 per cent.
On average, prices across England and Wales are up 5.7 per cent on the year to £275,961.
Meanwhile ultra-low interest rates have helped home owners keep up to date with their repayments.
According to the Council of Mortgage Lenders, the proportion of mortgage borrowers with arrears is down sharply on the year.
Just 1.03 per cent of borrowers are in arrears of more than 2.5 per cent of the mortgage balance, down from 1.24 per cent a year ago.
That amounts to 113,900 loans. Of those, 24,400 are in serious arrears, amounting to more than 10 per cent of their loan balances – a total of 0.22 per cent of all loans, the lowest proportion since 2008.
The number of repossessions is also down with 3,100 taking place in the first quarter. That is less than half the 6,400 seen in the same period of 2014.
“Even though we have had a benign interest rate environment for some years now, there are likely to be people whose finances are teetering on a knife edge and rate rises could easily push them over,” said Jonathan Harris, from mortgage broker Anderson Harris.
“Interest rate rises are inevitable at some point; when they come, they must do so gradually. Thankfully the Bank of England has suggested that this will be the case.”
However, Ministry of Justice numbers yesterday showed 11,307 renting households were evicted in the same period, which is the highest level in five years and a stark contrast to the lower pressure on those who own their own home.