U.K. House Prices Inflation Accelerates In April: Land Registry

(RTTNews) - U.K. house price growth accelerated further in April, data from the Land Registry showed Friday, despite indications that property market activity slowed recently.

The annual increase in house prices rose to 6.7 percent from 5.8 percent in March. The average property value in England and Wales totaled GBP 172,069.

London that experienced the greatest rise in property value over the last twelve months posted 17 percent increase in house prices in April.

On a monthly basis, house prices in England and Wales gained 1.5 percent, followed by a 0.1 percent drop in March.

Repossession volumes decreased by 33 percent in February 2014 to 936 compared with 1,387 in February 2013, it said.

Tighter mortgage lending standards appear to have at least temporarily taken some of the heat out of the housing market but house prices still look more likely than not to see solid increases over the coming months, said IHS Global Insight's Chief UK Economist Howard Archer.

While the Help to Buy mortgage guarantee scheme is not directly responsible for the rise, the case for scrapping it is growing, Matthew Pointon, a property economist at Capital Economics said.

Elsewhere, data from Hometack early today showed that a lack of supply continues to support pricing levels but the growth in demand is also starting to moderate.

House prices climbed 0.5 percent month-on-month in May compared with a 0.6 percent rise in April.