Land Registry figures show average house prices up 5.3% in England

The average price of a house in England stands at £243,339, an annual price rise of 5.3 percent, according to figures from the Land Registry. The government agency revealed that November house prices rose by 0.1 percent from the October figures.

The Land Registry registers the ownership of land and property in England and Wales. Its monthly house price index brings together all the data from land registrations across the UK, including Scotland and Northern Ireland.

The figures show that the West Midlands had the greatest rise in average property prices in the year to November 2017, up by 7.2 percent, while the north-west had the biggest monthly rise, up by 1.4 percent.

London property prices continue to stutter. The Land Registry figures show that the capital had the joint-lowest annual price rise of 2.3 percent, shared with the north-east. And house prices fell by 0.9 percent from October to November 2017. However, the average price of a property in London is still almost double the national average at £481,915.

In England, buyers paid an average of £31,878 for a newbuild home in September 2017, the

latest month for which figures were available, up 11.9 percent on a year earlier. Existing properties were selling for an average £238,556 in September, up 4.8 percent in 12 months.

Meanwhile, Rightmove has said properties being placed on the market in January have seen their asking prices leap by just over £2,000 on average and said that demand for property remains "robust".

Rightmove analyses the traffic data for its website, which carries estate agent listings for residential property from across the UK. According to its data, which measured the asking price of 63,365 properties (90 percent of the UK market), the average price of a property coming on to the market is up by 0.7 percent on December (an average of £2,067) and up 1.1 percent on January 2017.

Miles Shipside, Rightmove director and housing market analyst, said: "Considering some of the gales that buffeted the market in the latter part of 2017, these early readings for 2018 show there is currently a good following window of search activity."

However, he did warn sellers that properties across the UK are selling more slowly than a year ago, meaning buyers are being choosier and more demanding on price.