London house prices keep on rising

UK property prices increased for the sixth month in a row during June but the increase of 0.3 per cent is less than half the 0.7 per cent increase seen during May. London property prices however rose by more than 2 per cent.

According to several property price indexes the average cost of residential property in the capital rose to around £429,500 and are now less than £5,000 below the levels reached in May 2008 before the financial meltdown. Lack of supply has helped to push prices upwards but since the scrapping of the Home Information Packs agents across the country have reported an influx of new properties joining their lists. More property owners are testing the waters now that the costly HIPs have been taken out of the equation. As supply increases analysts forecast that the rate of price growth will slow.

The fly in the ointment continues to be credit availability particularly for first time time buyers - the level of deposits needed is still way beyond the means of many hoping to break into property ownership.