House prices rise for ninth month in row

The latest increase marks the ninth month in a row of rises and pushes prices across England and Wales 3.1 per cent higher than they were a year ago as the housing market revival continues to gather pace.

The proportion of the asking price achieved jumped to 95.2 per cent in October from 94.7 per cent the previous month. This is just half a percentage point off an all-time high of 95.7 per cent of the asking price typically achieved at the height of the property boom in 2007.

Prices in London have risen by 0.8 per cent month-on-month and London sellers are typically achieving 97.2 per cent of their asking price. Sellers in Wales are achieving the lowest proportion at 92.8 per cent.

The North East was the only region not to see any change in prices and rises were recorded everywhere else. Prices increased by 0.1 per cent in the East Midlands and the North West, by 0.2 per cent in Wales and Yorkshire and the Humber, by 0.3 per cent in East Anglia and the West Midlands, by 0.4 per cent in the South West and by 0.7 per cent in the South East.

A new phase of the Government’s Help to Buy scheme launched this month is expected to increase market activity.