New government figures show 8.7% house price rise in year 'pre-Brexit'

Average house prices across the UK rose 8.7 per cent in the year to the end of June - so including just one week after the EU referendum vote.

The UK House Price Index, which replaces indices by the ONS and the Land Registry, shows that the East of England has replaced London as the region with the highest annual growth - up 14.3 per cent. 

Then comes London at 12.6 per cent followed by the South East with a 12.3 per cent rise. The lowest annual growth was in the North East, where prices increased by 1.5 per cent over the year.

Prices across the UK rose an average of 1.0 per cent in June taking the typical home to £214,000 - £17,000 higher than in 2015 and £2,100 higher than the previous month this year.

On annual increases, England enjoyed a rise of 9.3 per cent with the average price now £229,000.

Wales saw house prices increase by 4.9 per cent over the year to hit £145,000 while Scotland had a 4.6 per cent annual hike to £143,000. Northern Irish homes cost an average of just £123,000.

Jeremy Leaf, the north London estate agent who is a former RICS residential chairman, says the figures are too old to reflect what is really happening now. 

“Theres too much concentration on pricing and not enough on transactions. House prices have been rising mainly because of shortage of stock. Volumes will be affected by uncertainty at least until September when buyers and sellers start returning from holiday and think about their next steps” he says. 

Ex-Countrywide director Graham Davidson, now managing director of Sequre Property Investment, says: “We were unsurprised to see that the north west performed well, as this is in line with our business, we have seen enquiries and sales transactions rise by five and 12.4 per cent respectively.”

However, Stuart Law or property investment consultancy Assetz takes a more pessimistic view. “The data lays bare the impact of EU uncertainty on the property market, with house prices increasing at a slower rate than in May as a result of buyers and sellers either sitting on their hands in June or cutting a deal rather than waiting around for the result and its implications to become clear” he says. 

“July’s political turmoil probably means June was just the beginning of a summer price-rise slowdown, with inner-London taking actual price falls” adds Law.