'Most widespread house price rises in 10 years'
03-04-2014
Nearly 99pc of sellers in London are achieving asking price or more with the property revival spreading out to all regions
Hometrack price index
Telegraph News
By Telegraph reporters
'Most widespread house price rises in 10 years'
Percentage of postcode districts registering higher prices over the month Photo: Hometrack
More than half of postcode districts across England and Wales recorded rising house prices last month, in the most widespread growth seen for a decade, according to a study.
Some 51.1 per cent of postcodes saw prices increase, marking the biggest spread of coverage since the survey began in July 2004. Just 0.4 per cent saw prices fall.
Increases averaged 0.7 per cent – the highest monthly rise since April 2007 – with London and the South East seeing the biggest uplifts at 1.1 per cent and 0.9 per cent respectively.
Values were 5.4 per cent higher year–on–year, edging up from a 4.8 per cent annual rise in January, property analyst Hometrack has reported.
Prices saw a monthly lift of 0.1 per cent in Wales, 0.2 per cent in Yorkshire and Humberside, 0.3 per cent in the West Midlands, the East Midlands and the North East, 0.4 per cent in the North West, 0.6 per cent in the South West and 0.7 per cent in East Anglia.
On average, 95.8 per cent of a seller's asking price is being achieved across the country, up from 95.3 per cent in January, and a property spends around eight weeks on the market.
A seller in London is getting around 98.8 per cent of the asking price and properties are being snapped up in under three weeks.
The number of potential buyers registering in February with estate agents across the country surged by 17.1 per cent, the biggest monthly increase in seven years.
Richard Donnell, of Hometrack, said: "The upward pressure on prices will only start to moderate if we see a sustained increase in supply or if demand were to weaken, which seems unlikely in the near term given the low level of mortgage rates."
The study is based on a series of questions put to estate agents including average time to sell, achieved price as a percentage of asking price, change in property listings, change in registered applicants and viewings per sale.