ONS: UK House Price Inflation Hit Four-Year High of 10.5% in May

House price inflation across the UK hit the highest rate in four years as it reached 10.5% in May, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

The average price of a home in the UK is now £262,000 (€330,327, $449,053), it said.

Inflation rose by 0.6% on the previous month which was largely driven by a record growth of 20.1% in London.

In other areas of England, the South East house prices jumped by 9.6% and 8.6% in the East.

Prices rose in every region in the UK, with the exception of Northern Ireland where they dropped by 0.7%. England's house prices jumped by 11%, Wales by 6.5%, with an increase of 3.6% north of the border in Scotland.

Overall, in the 12 months leading to May 2014, excluding London and the South East, house prices rose by 6.4%. In May first time buyers paid 11.3% more in comparison with the same month in 2013, with current owners paying 10.1% more.