Average Flat Price in England and Wales Hits £250,000

An average flat in England and Wales will now cost you in excess of a quarter a million pounds, as demand in the housing market continues to rise off the back of mortgage easing measures.

According to Land Registry data analysed by property investment firm London Central Portfolio (LCP), the average price of a flat in the two nations, which represents 18% of the total market, is now worth £250,101.

The average price of all properties grew 1.3% in the second quarter, to £242,415.

Property transactions rose sharply on the first quarter, lifting 26.6%, as confidence in the economy swelled alongside the increasing availability of credit, stable interest rates and mortgage market-stimulating Help to Buy scheme.

LCP cautioned that this spike could be down to seasonality as transactions across the year only grew by 1.16%.

In the expensive Prime Central London (PCL) sector, the average price jumped 7.2% in the three months to June as transactions increased by 11.64% on the quarter. On an annual basis the increase was relatively low at 2.22%.

"Headline average prices in PCL are becoming increasingly distorted by increasing numbers of 'super prime' transactions. These top-end deals do tend to mask real average prices. In truth, 63% of all sales this quarter took place under £1m," said Naomi Heaton, chief executive of LCP.

Estate agent Knight Frank reported in June that more people are renting homes in central London as property prices touched record highs.

However, the rate of UK house price growth slowed down in July, despite continued improvement in overall market conditions, owing to the decreased new-buyer demand.

Average house price growth in England and Wales rose 0.3% month-on-month in July, compared to a 0.4% increase in June.

According to the LCP data, the most expensive flat sold in the second quarter was in the Kensington and Chelsea area, at £13.25m.

The most expensive flat sold outside London was in Weybridge, Surrey, for £8m while the cheapest sale of the quarter was in Engremont, Cumbria for £7,000.