Average house price rose £16,000 over the year before referendum

The price of an average house or flat in the UK rose by £16,000 in the year to May after another 1.1 per cent monthly rise according to the Office of National Statistics. 

The data refers to the year ending at the start of June - so before the EU referendum result was known.

The May data shows an annual price increase of 8.1 per cent which takes the average property value in the UK to £211,230. 

In England, the May data shows an annual price increase of 8.9 per cent which takes the average property value to £226,807; England saw a 1.0 per cent monthly price rise. 

Wales shows an annual price increase of 3.6 per cent which takes the average property value to £142,568. The monthly rise there was 0.9 per cent.

London experienced the greatest increase over the past year with an annual price rise of 13.6 per cent which takes the average property value to £472,163. Monthly house prices rose by 1.5 per cent. 

The North East experienced the greatest monthly growth with an increase of 2.1 per cent - but this did not stop the same region seeing the lowest annual price growth with an increase of 3.2 per cent.

Prices in the North West fell by 0.3 per cent over the month recorded by the ONS.

Andrew Bridges, managing director of London agency Stirling Ackroyd, says prices have fallen in some areas since the ONS collated the data.

“British property buyers are weathering a storm of uncertainty, and the hatches were battened down a little in the first week or two after the Brexit vote.

“But this is a storm, not climate change. Beyond a couple of months’ volatility, the real drivers of UK property values have hardly changed.

“Across the country there are still too few homes to match demand, and if anything the construction of new homes is now slowing – all further strengthening the long-term prospects for investors in the UK property market” he says.

Stephen Matthews, director at Greene & Co., says the data shows that investment in London property continues to be highly prized and rewarding.