Cost of Mids housing rising slower than rest of UK

House prices in the West Midlands are rising year-on-year at a lower rate than anywhere else in the UK, Government figures have showed.

The Department for Communities and Local Government statistics show annual house price inflation nationally increasing to 5.1 per cent during the month, up from just 3.3 per cent in March and the strongest figure since May last year.

The rate increased in all areas of the country during April apart from Scotland, where it eased from 10.8 per cent to 7.6 per cent.

In the West Midlands the annual growth rate dipped from 4.8 per cent in January, to 3.2 per cent in February and 1.2 per cent in March, before rising again in April to two per cent.

However in April last year it stood at 10.3 per cent.

Next to the West Midlands at the foot of this year's annual growth rate table for April stood the East Midlands at 2.8 per cent.

Annual growth remains highest in Northern Ireland at 15.8 per cent, followed by Yorkshire and the Humber at 8.9 per cent, and Scotland and the North East at 7.3 per cent cent.

In London, annual property price inflation picked up to 7.1 per cent from four per cent during the month, while the rate more than doubled in both the Southeast and South West, although at 2.8 per cent and 3.7 per cent respectively it remained relatively subdued.

The average cost of a home in the region stands at #165,144.

West Midlands-based regional and national spokesman for the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors Harvey Williams said the region's rate of increase reflected a relatively high starting point.

He added: "What we have seen is quite a surge since April, from potential first time buyers, reflecting the shared ownership proposals in the Budget."

The DCLG figures, which are not seasonally adjusted, were in contrast to other data which suggested the mini-boom was coming to an end.

Nationwide Building Society showed house prices edging ahead by 0.1 per cent in April, followed by growth of just 0.2 per cent in May.

Howard Archer, chief UK and European economist at economics group Global Insight, said: "The marked rise in house price inflation reported by the department for April does not significantly undermine the recent evidence which has hinted that the recent mini-boom in the housing market could be faltering."

* The six major UK house price indices show an average of 6.8 per cent annualised growth for the twelve months to May, according to Assetz House Price Watch. This is a 0.9 per cent increase on the annual growth up to April and a 2.4 per cent rise since the start of the year. It suggests annual growth will level off at around the five per cent mark.