Prices in the three months to the end of 2015 were 9.5 per cent higher than in the same three month period a year earlier - and the average price of a UK home is now £208,286 according to the Halifax index.
"There remains a substantial gap between demand and supply with the latest figures showing a further decline in the number of properties available for sale. This situation is unlikely to change significantly in the short-term, resulting in continuing upward pressure on prices” says Halifax housing economist Martin Ellis.
Homes are also becoming less affordable, as the house price to earnings ratio rose to 5.58 in December from 5.49 in November and 5.10 at the end of 2014, taking it to its highest level since January 2008, according to the data.
However, price growth in the final quarter of last year was slightly lower than in the preceding three months.
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And only going to rise ever higher. Osborne's not stupid - well, more that he's a crafty and sly so and so - and he knows that high house prices are propping up the economy. A slump in prices will be disastrous for the economy so the government will continue to do all they can to restrict supply while pretending they are actually dealing with the housing shortage - see their announcement of 13,000 new starter homes, Build to Rent, Help to Buy ISAs and their continuing insistence on pushing Right to Buy. All smoke and mirrors, as per.
A slump in house prices is actually good for the economy. How can high values be good when we are saddled with huge mortgage debt draining our wages which could otherwise be spent on buying productive goods and services.
We have a housing bubble re-inflated with cheap credit after the credit crunch. What happens at the next economical meltdown as interest rates are already at rock bottom?
We need to get rid of help to buy, funding for lending which is pushing up house prices dramatically saddling the tax payers and home owners with extreme debt. We also need to tackle landlord debt by placing them on repayment mortgages rather than interest only mortgages due to the huge fraud of lying about repayment vehicles.
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