UK house prices rose 7.7% in the year to November to reach a new high of £288,000, according to the latest ONS house price index.
The highest growth was in the East of England at 10.2%, followed by London and the South East, both at 9.8%.
The slowest house price growth was in the North East and Scotland, both at 0.4%.
Excluding London and the South East, UK house prices increased by 5.8% in the 12 months to November.
In November, the average price paid by first-time buyers was £221,000, 7.4% higher than the previous year.
London continued to be the English region with the highest average house price at £537,000, while the North East had the lowest average house price at £157,000.
Excluding London and the South East, the average UK house price was £219,000.
House price inflation was highest in England at 8.3%, compared to 1.3% in Wales, 0.4% in Scotland and 4.6% in Northern Ireland.
Guy Meacock, director of buying agency Prime Purchase, said that with higher stamp duty from April and a likely rise in interest rates later this year there was a sense people were “having a push before sentiment changes.”
“The stamp duty changes announced in the Autumn Statement will give a bit of a kick to the buy-to-let and second home market in the spring as buyers try to avoid the higher stamp duty from 1 April. There is a growing concern that if you do have money to spare, where do you put it? With it taking six weeks, on average, from exchange to completion, buyers will need to have exchanged by mid-February if they want to complete before 1 April, which doesn’t leave much time,” said Meacock.
Jeremy Leaf, former RICS chairman and north London estate agent, said: “With the housing market drawing to a strong close in December, we are seeing a continuation of the trend of the past few months. Supply is simply not increasing fast enough to keep house prices in check and is making it harder for first-time buyers to get on the ladder. The situation is likely to get worse before it gets better in view of the build up to the increase in stamp duty in April, particularly as these figures are a little historic.”
Mark Harris, chief executive of mortgage broker SPF Private Clients, said: “There is much speculation as to whether we will finally see a rate rise in 2016, with remortgaging numbers in particular rising. Those who would struggle to pay their mortgage if rates rise should consider a fixed rate and there are still some excellent deals to tempt borrowers although we may have seen the back of the very cheapest products.”
