Last month the divide of house prices between the south-east and the rest of England and Wales widened along with a seasonal increase in sales in London and a slight decline in parts of the north, according to a monthly national housing survey by property analysts Hometrack.
14.8% of postcodes across England and Wales registered price rises, of which 74% were in London and the south east. Almost half of London postcodes (48%) registered an increase in values on average of 0.3%, with Southwark, Ealing, Merton and Bexley all achieving an above-average house price rise.
The regions with an average overall drop included the north-east of England (-0.2%), north-west, and Yorkshire and Humberside (-0.1%).
Overall prices increased 0.1%, the first time values have gone up in nine months since May 2012.
The strongest price rise was in areas with shortage of supply and growing demand. Hometrack said it predicts both demand and supply to grow. Nevertheless, higher stamp duty costs in southern England would be a deterrent to sell, creating scarcity and supporting headline prices they said.
The quickest to sell was property across London; the average time being 5.2 weeks, in comparison with 9.7 weeks overall. The slowest selling was east Midlands with 13.6 weeks.
In the south-east on average sellers were able to obtain 94.9% of their asking price, in comparison with 93.4% overall, and just 91.9% in Wales.
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