UK house prices increased in February at the fastest pace in more than seven years, research group Acadametrics said.
The average cost of a home in England and Wales was 222,008 pounds ($367,000), up 1.9 per cent from January in the biggest advance since September 2002, Acadametrics founder David Thorpe said in a telephone interview. Values are still 4 per cent below their February 2008 peak, the group said in an estimate released by e-mail today.
The measurement is at odds with other housing data that show values fell last month and is likely to be revised down, Thorpe said. Some property market indicators show Britain's housing recovery lost momentum this year after the looming general election, an increase in transaction tax and colder- than-average winter weather deterred buyers.
``The numbers at the moment are very volatile because of low transactions,'' Thorpe said. ``When more transactions come through we would expect this 1.9 per cent to drop.''
Transactions in January plunged 52 per cent from December to 36,000, an 11-month low, the research group said.
Surveyor reports
A UK house-price gauge run by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors showed fewer increases in values last month than economists forecast as more people tried to sell their homes. The number of real-estate agents and surveyors saying prices rose exceeded those reporting declines by 17 percentage points, down from 31 per centage points the previous month.
``We have a clear tension as to what is really happening in the market,'' Acadametrics Chairman Peter Williams said in today's statement. ``The start of 2010 was difficult for a number of reasons, and the question is whether this is a blip or the start of a new trend.''
Acadametrics uses methodology employed by the US S&P/Case-Shiller price index, combining initial housing transaction data from the UK Land Registry and results from other price measures to produce an estimate for the most recent month. That number is then revised in following months. The gauge was formerly called the Financial Times House Price Index.
``My experience tells me that we are approaching a tipping point,'' Robin Hardy, a housing industry analyst at KBC Peel Hunt in London, said in an e-mail today. ``When they turn, prices risk taking a big swing. Hold on to your hat because it sure ain't over.''
