House prices in England and Wales are now 6.1% higher than they were a year ago, the largest monthly rise since April 2007 according to a survey by Right Move.

The average property price nationally in February was £229,398 a rise of 3.2% on January.

In London prices were up 5% on the month to a record £427,987, prices are now higher then at the peak of the property boom in 2007 after rising 10.3% over the last year.

This pace of increase is not sustainable according to Right Move given the limited amount of home purchase finance available following the credit crunch.

“This market is more akin to the mortgage-rationed times of the 1970s and 1980s than to more recent times of relatively easy mortgage availability,” stated Right Move’s commercial director Miles Shipside.

“If sellers return to the market in larger numbers the current upwards price pressure will not be sustainable with the restricted number of buyers,” he added.

The Right Move survey was based on asking prices for new property added to their website, which covers 90% of UK sales between 10th January and 6th February.

Tags: House Prices London, House Prices Rise, Uk House Prices

This entry was posted on Sunday, February 21st, 2010 at 4:23 pm and is filed under Finance, Financial News, Homeowner, Mortgage, Recession, Remortgage. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.