30/12/11
By Vicky Shaw
Nine out of 13 regions in the UK recorded a house price rise over 2011, lender Nationwide has revealed.
In a year of contrasting fortunes, house prices have ranged from a 5.4 per cent increase in London to an 8.9 per cent drop in Northern Ireland, Nationwide found.
The annual increase across the UK was a "surprisingly resilient" 1.1 per cent, pushing the price of a typical home to £163,822 over the year, despite a 0.2 per cent month-on-month fall in December.
Nationwide said that despite the encouraging figures in the face of high unemployment and "anaemic" economic growth, demand and supply remain weak with mortgage approvals standing at around half their long-term levels.
Homes in Northern Ireland have become more affordable than anywhere else in the UK, with an average house price to earnings ratio of 4.1, down from 9.2 in 2007. Prices average £113,614.
At the other end of the spectrum, prices in London, which is popular with overseas buyers, are just shy of £300,000 and are 1.6 per cent below their all-time highs, compared with prices across the UK which are 10 per cent below their peak levels.
London is also the least affordable region, with a house price to earnings ratio of 7.4.
Robert Gardner, Nationwide's chief economist, said: "Thanks to continued low interest rates, the number of forced sales remained low.
"Together with a dearth in building activity in recent years, this prevented a glut of unsold homes from accumulating on the market."
