Buoyant North drives 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.

- 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 and Northern Ireland, with rises in London and the South East hovering around 2%.

Other regions of the UK have slowly been catching up with London's post-financialcrisis house price boom over the past few years, particularly Northern cities such Manchester and Newcastle.