Strong Increase In House Prices Across UK

House prices in the UK increased by 10.5% in the year to May 2014, from 9.9% to April. London showed the highest level of growth with a record house prices increase of 20.1%. The South East (9.6%) and the East (8.6%) also showed good increases. London and the South East excluded, house prices increased by 6.4% nationally.

First time buyers house prices increased by 11.3% over the year to May from 10.7% in April. The average price for a house in May for a first time buyer was £202,000. Former owner-occupier buyers prices increased by 10.1% to May 2014 from 9.5% in April. The average price paid by former owner-occupiers was £301,000.

Prices paid for new build homes during the year to May increased by an average of 6.9% and the average price for new dwellings in May was £246,000. Pre-owned dwellings prices increased by 10.7%, from 10.4% to April. The average price for a pre-owned dwelling in May was £263,000.

House Prices Fall In Euro Area

House prices in the euro area fell by 0.3% as measured by the House Price Index (HPI) and increased by 1% in the EU during the first quarter of 2014 compared with the same period last year. When compared with the fourth quarter of 2013 the HPI fell by 0.3% in the euro area and rose by 0.2% in the EU according to Eurostat.

The biggest annual falls in house prices according to the HPI were in Croatia with -9.7%, Slovenia -6.6% and Cyprus -5.7%. The biggest increases were in Estonia with 17.5% and Latvia with 10.4%. The UK was next with an increase of 8%. The biggest falls over the quarter were in Croatia with -2.7%, Luxembourg with -2.3% and Slovenia -1.7%. THe highest increases were in Estonia with an increase of 4.8%, Sweden with an increase of 2.4% and the UK with an increase of 2.2%.