UK house prices climbed 8.2pc in the year to April, bringing the average house price to £209,000, £16,000 higher a year previously and £1,300 higher than in March, according to a new index that claims to give a more accurate picture of the property market.
The pricing growth was slightly lower than in the previous month, when it hit 8.5pc, and the number of homes changing hands in April was lower than March, mainly due to the Government’s introduction of higher stamp duty charges on buy-to-let properties.
London house prices rose the most in the period – up 14.5pc compared to last April – closely followed by the East of England with 13.6pc growth and the South East with 12.3pc growth, according to newly combined data from the Office for National Statistics and the Land Registry.
In the City of London, the average price of a house soared by a whopping 27.3pc, to £928,217. At the other end of the scale, prices in Merthyr Tydfil were down 11.1pc, to an average of £82,217.
On a regional basis, London continues to have the highest average house price at £470,000, followed by the South East and the East of England, which stand at £302,000 and £263,000 respectively.
The lowest average price continues to be in the North East at £122,000, where house prices rose by just 0.1pc over the year.
The latest figures mark the first time the ONS and the Land Registry have pooled their data to produce what they say is a more accurate picture of the UK housing market.
It includes both cash sales and the sale of new homes, which were not accounted for previously.
The figures showed that during April 2016, the most expensive borough in which to live was Kensington and Chelsea, where the cost of an average house was £1.3m. The cheapest area to purchase a property was Burnley, where the average house cost £73,000.
The main contribution to the increase in UK house prices came from England, where house prices rose by 9.1pc over the year to April. The average house price in England now stands at £225,000.
Wales saw average house prices increase by 1.7pc over the 12 months to £139,000, Scotland was up 3.3pc to £138,000, and the average price in Northern Ireland remained flat at £118,000.