Hometrack said that house prices in England and Wales were up 0.6% in July to an average GBP166,500, raising year-on-year growth to 3.2%, the fastest annual pace of increase since October 2004, the Guardian has reported.
Hometrack’s director of research Richard Donnell explained that despite the dropping demand, the July growth can be attributed to the limited number of properties for sale, which is forcing the prices upwards.
Hometrack also points out that London’s 1.1% July price increase helped flatter the overall readings, as prices for two-thirds of the country remained the same. Wales saw the next highest price rise of 1%.
The newspaper also reported that Mr Donnell predicts demand to moderate for the remainder of the summer months and into autumn, anticipating an overall 4% house price rise for the year.
