London drives house price rise

ECONOMICS The strength of the property market in London caused house prices to rise again over the past month, according to figures released today.

Hometrack, the property website, said that house prices rose by 0.4 per cent in January, taking the annual rate of house price rises to 6 per cent, from 5.7 per cent in December.

Richard Donnell, Hometrack's director of research, said that prices were unchanged across most of the country, but an 0.8 per cent rise in London, caused by a lack of supply, had improved the overall picture.

Separate data from propertyfinder.com gave an indication of the pressures on today's first-time buyers. The site's survey showed that only 49 per cent of those aged below 35 own property, compared with a figure of 59 per cent just six years ago.