Property breaks the £200,000 barrier
The average cost of a house in England and Wales is now more than £200,000, new figures have shown.
The latest FT House Price Index reveals that the expansion of the London housing market has driven average prices upwards to a level of £200,255, amounting to a 3.4 per cent rise on this time last year.
Where London leads, the rest of the country tends to follow, according to Gary Styles, chief economist and chairman of Acadametrics, who compiled the figures.
'We could now be set for a pattern of smooth and steady adjustment in national house prices if the increases seen in London spread to other regions,' Mr Styles predicted.
Yorkshire and the south west have been the strongest regions outside London so far this year, with house price growth of over two per cent, but other areas have been quieter.
Buyers faced with a rise in the cost of purchase can increase their options in the market by chasing up the best buys on the mortgage market online. | 
