Buoyant cities driving shock 3.9% rise in property prices

HOUSE prices rose again in May — defying predictions of a slowdown in the market after stamp duty relief was axed earlier this year.

- By Amber Murray

The average price for a property reached £269,000 in May, up 3.9% year on year and 1.1% month on month.

Much of this increase was again driven by house price rises in the north east of England and Northern Ireland, with rises in London and south east England at around 2%.

Other areas of the UK have slowly been catching up with London’s post-financial-crisis house price boom over the past few years, particularly cities such as Manchester and Newcastle.