UK house prices: average London home is worth nearly triple those across England and Wales
House prices in London have grown nearly 14 per cent, with the average property worth three times that of houses in the rest of the country.
An average home in the capital costs £530,409, compared to just £191,812 for an average property in England and Wales.
Figures released by the Land Registry house price index reveal annual growth in London of 13.9 per cent.
Average house prices across Britain in February 2016
The South East also performed strongly, with growth of 10.7 per cent since last year and prices averaging £266,603.
Across the South West of England, prices rose 6.2 per cent this year to £198,288, with Bristol showing double the average growth with a 12 per cent increase to £220,532.
Bristol, which borders Somerset and Gloucestershire, came seventh on Rightmove’s list of fastest-selling property hotspots outside London, published this week, and has been hailed by estate agents as “the next Cambridge” for the rate at which property is changing hands.
The Land Registry figures also reveals the Crossrail effect, with house prices in Reading outstripping the average in the South East, rising 16.1 per cent to £270,146.
When the Crossrail line arrives in Reading in 2018 it will slash journey times to London, making it an attractive investment for commuters.
The North East showed the smallest price increase of just 0.2 per cent to £114,504, with prices in Sunderland falling by 3.2 per cent.
However, Newcastle upon Tyne had the highest monthly price rise of all metropolitan districts in the region, with an increase in January of 2.1 per cent to £123,673.
Annually, prices in the North West grew by 2.1 per cent to £114,504, with Manchester achieving buoyant growth of 5.6 per cent to £103,834.
The Land Registry records 6.8 per cent annual growth in property prices in Wales, with Cardiff, Swansea and Wrexham growing in line with the average.