London house prices hit record £554,718 after highest annual growth in six years
The average cost of a home in London has hit a record £554,718, after reporting the highest annual house price inflation in six years, according to the country’s longest running index.
While house price growth in the capital has continued to lag behind other parts of the UK, the rate of annual growth now stands at 8.8 per cent – or the equivalent of £44,669 over the last 12 months.
Halifax’s House Price Index, which first began collecting data in 1983, found that the 0.1 per cent fall in house prices in July has been completely offset by the 0.4 per cent growth recorded in August.
As of last month, the average cost of a home outside of the British capital now sits at £294,260.
“While house prices have so far proved to be resilient in the face of growing economic uncertainty, industry surveys point towards cooling expectations across the majority of UK regions, as buyer demand eases, and other forward-looking indicators also imply a likely slowdown in market activity,” director of Halifax Mortgages, Kim Kinnaird, said in a statement.
She explained that the “considerable hit” to people’s incomes from rampant inflation, the 80 per cent rise in the energy price cap for October and rising mortgage rates are “likely to constrain the amounts that prospective homebuyers can afford to borrow”.