House prices soared by £1,200 during April to stand at a new record high, figures showed today.
The average cost of a home in England and Wales rose by 0.5 per cent during the month to reach £263,113 – £54,000 above the low point reached in April 2009 during the housing market correction.
It was the tenth month in a row that property values have set a new record, according to LSL Property Services and Acadata.
The typical home is now worth 7.3 per cent or £17,877 more than it was a year earlier.
Sales activity was also buoyant during April, with an estimated 72,000 transactions carried out, 40 per cent more than during the same month of 2013.
David Newnes, director of Reeds Rains and Your Move estate agents, owned by LSL Property Services, said: “As the floods and bad weather at the start of the year become a distant memory, sales in April have returned to more normal levels.
“Activity is largely being fuelled by increasing numbers of purchases by first-time buyers and buy-to-let landlords, as consumer confidence sweeps the country. “Low inflation and healthy wage growth are energising household finances, and infusing aspiring buyers with greater optimism.”
London continued to outperform other regional housing markets, with house prices in the capital rising by 13.2 per cent during the past year.
But growth is rippling out across the rest of the country, with South East posting gains of 6.1 per cent in the past 12 months, while in the East Midlands house prices are 5.3 per cent higher than they were a year ago.
Meanwhile, East Anglia followed London and the South East to become the third region in which property values have surpassed their pre-crisis peak.
Overall, house prices have risen in 89 per cent of unitary authorities during the past 12 months.
But LSL warned that it was important that the supply of properties being put up for sale kept pace with demand.
Newnes said: “Constrained supply in the capital has already moderated total London sales over the past 12 months.
“Demand shows no sign of slowing. More house building is imperative to keep the momentum going, and to ensure that price rises are sustainable, in particular for first-time buyers – who remain the key ingredient at the lower end of the market, oiling the cogs of growth.”
Today’s figures come the day after Halifax said annual house price growth eased slightly to 8.5 per cent during April.
But the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors said it expected house prices to continue their upward march, as the mismatch between supply and demand intensified.
The group said estate agents sold the highest number of properties during the three months to the end of April since February 2008.
But the number of new homes being put up for sale fell for the fourth consecutive month, putting further upward pressure on prices.
