U.K. House Prices Rise to Record on London Surge - Bloomberg

U.K. House Prices Rise to Record on London Surge - Bloomberg

U.K. house prices rose to a record last month as government measures boosted demand and London’s property market continued to surge.

Acadametrics said Values increased 0.4 percent from July to an average 233,776 pounds ($370,000), the London-based real-estate researcher and LSL Property Services Plc (LSL) said in a report today. In London, prices have risen 40 percent from their trough in April 2009, compared with 16 percent nationally.

The Bank of England-run Funding for Lending Scheme has helped to cut mortgage costs, while Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne’s Help to Buy program allows people to purchase a home with a deposit of as little as 5 percent of the value of the property. The BOE has downplayed speculation that a bubble may be brewing, saying activity is still at a low level relative to its pre-crisis peak.