30/04/2010-Recent house price figures released by The Nationwide reveal that over the lifetime of the last Parliament (May 2005 to April 2010), house prices have risen by 6.7%.
April s figures show the first double-digit annual growth in UK house prices since June 2007. The year-on-year rate in this month s figures, however, received an additional boost from the fact that April 2009 was one of the weaker months last year.
House Price Index Summary
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House prices increased by 1.0% month-on-month in April
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Annual rate of price inflation moves into double digits for first time since June 2007
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House prices are 10.0% below the October 2007 peak
Commenting on the figures Martin Gahbauer, Nationwide’s Chief Economist, said: The price of a typical UK property rose by a seasonally adjusted 1.0% month-on-month (m/m) in April, leaving house prices 10.5% higher than a year earlier. This compares to a 13.5% increase in the consumer price index, the official target measure of inflation.”
Financial analysts indicate that cash transactions have been playing a role in recent house price trends The strong rebound in house prices over the last year has taken place within the context of a subdued mortgage market, with the number of mortgage advances across the industry still well down on pre-crisis norms. In 2008 when the credit crunch was at its most severe there was indeed an increase in the estimated proportion of total housing transactions completed in cash. Cash transactions (i.e. non-mortgaged purchases) are estimated to have averaged 43% of the total in 2008 against 37% in 2007.
This suggests that cash buyers did make some contribution to clearing the excess stock of housing
For those selling a property in the UK using online estate agents such as The Little House Company appear to be a growing trend .