UK house prices surge by 7.9% in the year to January 2016, up from 6.7% in the year to December 2015.
The average price of property coming up for sale has broken through the £300,000 mark for the first time this month. In the South West, the average price stands at £292,251 - an annual increase of 6.8%. Today's asking prices are now more than 50% higher than they were ten years ago, which highlights the growing affordability problem facing first-time buyers and trader-uppers. Despite the recession, which saw several years of falling or stagnant property prices, the strength of the recovery is demonstrated by today's £303,190 average asking price, which is £100,000 higher than the £200,980 of March 2006. By contrast, average wage growth of 22% over the past decade has failed to keep pace with CPI inflation of 26.8%, which highlights the issues of raising a deposit and affording a mortgage. Main findings UK house prices increased by 7.9% in the year to January 2016, up from 6.7% in the year to December 2015. House price annual inflation was 8.6% in England, -0.3% in Wal...