Thursday, April 6, 2006
Category:
Finance News
British house prices are growing at their highest rate since 2004, it has been claimed.
New figures from the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) showed a 17 per cent increase in the amount of estate agents reporting house price rises, compared to January's rise of just nine per cent.
Recent surges in demand have been especially prevalent in London, where 49 per cent more agents had observed price rises in the past month.
"Traditionally, where London goes the rest of the market follows and agents will be hoping this is the starting gun on wider, firmer housing market growth as buyers begin to compete more aggressively for the homes they want," commented RICS spokesman James Scott-Lee.
Surveyors and estate agents certainly believe this to be the case, expressing confidence that sustained growth in housing demand will continue throughout the year.
The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister published figures in January showing that house prices had risen by 4.3 per cent in the preceding twelve months, attributing the market's recovery in part to the Bank of England interest rate cut by a quarter point in August last year.
