British house prices rose 22% last year

House prices have increased by over 22 per cent in England and Wales during the past year, figures reveal today.

House prices have increased by over 22 per cent in England and Wales during the past year, figures reveal today.

The Land Registry said prices were 22.24 per cent higher during the final three months of 2002 than they had been in the same period the previous year.

The average cost of a home is now £145,251 sterling, (€227,238) although this is slightly below the figure for the previous three months when the Land Registry reported the average property cost £146,150 (€228,645).

The decline may reflect reports by some commentators that prices at the top end of the market in London have fallen, or it could be due to the Land Registry seasonally adjusting its figures.

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During the three months 390 properties costing more than £1 million (€1.6 million) were sold in Greater London, the equivalent of more than four a day, although this is down from 628 £1 million-plus homes in the third quarter of 2002.

The biggest price increases were seen in the East Midlands, where the average cost of a home rose by 28.2 per cent year-on-year to £110,853 (€173,424), followed by the South West at 28 per cent pushing the average cost of a home in the region up to £157,043 (€245,686).

The most expensive place to buy a house remains London's Kensington and Chelsea, where the average home costs £581,561 (€909,826). The cheapest place to buy a property is Blaenau Gwent in Wales, where houses cost an average of £41,529 (€64,970).

PA