Housing prices soar in England and Wales

House prices across England and Wales have increased significantly in value over the past 12 months, with prices in central London particularly rising by 6 per cent to be worth an average of £1.6 million (€2 million).

In some of the city’s most exclusive zones, including the elite areas of Kensington and Chelsea, homeowners have seen a rise of over 11 per cent in the value of their properties.

The trend is repeated on a smaller scale across the country. In London as a whole, the average house is now worth over £500,000 (€630,000), according to Land Registry figures: double the value of prices across the rest of the country, which has still seen an increase of 5.9 per cent nationwide.

There are fears that such high values placed upon property could lock out first time buyers, whilst simultaneously broadening the wealth divide between London and the rest of the country. People living in central London may well have seen an average of £166,216 (€210,000) added to the value of their property within the last year.

Sky-high prices have not necessarily put off buyers, however, as the number of house sales exploded last year by almost 31 per cent, their highest since before the collapse in 2007.

According to the Daily Mail, a survey conducted by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors suggests that there are now more houses on the market than there are buyers.

We could very well see a further increase in house prices over the next year, before a crash in prices after that.