Asking price record tumbles

• The national average asking price record has tumbled, almost breaking the £250,000 Mark, according to the Rightmove House Price Index. 
• It was a South-led price surge as London, South East and East Anglia hit all-time highs.
• In London Camden led the 3.3% price surge with prices up 7.2%, going past the £1m mark. 
• Buyers in the capital were facing new sellers’ average asking prices in excess of £500,000 for the first time. 
• The typical property in the capital is now more than twice as expensive as the national average.
• The national average asking price stands at £249,841, as new sellers raise prices by 2.1% (+£5,135) this month. This is the fifth consecutive monthly rise leaves prices 9.1% (+£20,852) higher year-to-date, the strongest price start to a year since 2004
• East Anglia saw 4% increases to an average asking price of £233,000, while the South East was up 1.8%.
• The North saw price rises of 4.2%, while in Wales prices were up 1%. The North West was up 1.7%, Yorkshire and Humberside and the East Midlands 1.2%, West Midlands 0.2% and and the South West 0.6%.
• Miles Shipside, Rightmove director and housing market analyst comments: “The tumbling of records is being driven by the equity-rich generation with a definite southern bias, though agents in most parts of the country are reporting strong demand for well-priced and decent-quality stock. Despite a new national record, it’s not ‘green-shoots of recovery’ across the board, especially for the deposit-strapped mass-market. They must wait patiently until January when the Help to Buy scheme extends to the resale market, unless new homes developers can increase building dramatically this year.”