| UK
House Prices Situation: Strong
UK
House Prices Forecast: Continued Growth
Scotland's
Booming
Data
published this week by the Bank of Scotland shows that
while Scotland remains the most affordable place to
by a house in the UK, prices
have increased by an average of 14.5% over the last
year, compared to an average 8% in the UK as a whole.
The
average price of a house in Scotland
remains relatively low, at £122,511 - compared
to a UK average of £179,425, but over the last
five years, Scottish house prices have
increased by 91%. However, Tim Crawford, the Bank of
Scotland's chief economist, said that "House price
growth north of the border is continuing to cool",
and he expects that growth in 2006 will be limited to
10%, against a UK average of 5%.
Bad
News For First-Time Buyers in London
A
new report published this week by the London Housing
Federation, who represent London's 400 housing associations,
forecast that the average house price in the capital
will reach nearly £400,000 by 2011.
The
head of the LHF, Berwyn Kinsey, said that "London
is facing a housing time bomb",
as it becomes increasingly difficult for first-time
buyers to get on the housing ladder. The average London
home already costs nearly £300,000 - 8.8 times
the average income in the capital (£33,373). This
situation is continually worsening as house
price inflation outstrips wage inflation for
most workers in the capital.
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