- Paul Smith, a manager at Haart
While the Sterling stabilized versus the U.S. Dollar on Monday amid the earthquake in LA, Britain's housing market continued overheating, posing more pressure on the policymakers. The nation's housing asking price soared to a fresh record high of 256,000 pounds this month, amid spring seller rush. According to Rightmove, values in England and Wales inched higher 1.6% on a monthly basis to 552,530, moving 8,298 above previous high reached in October. On a yearly basis, sellers' asking prices advanced 6.8%, while London recorded a 11.3% price hike. The only region, where prices posted a 0.3% decline was the North. While investors rushed to buy a property in London, considering it as a safe haven, the company said there is an evidence price growth in the capital is no longer driven by the prime central boroughs.
Britain's property market is on the mend and it was mostly encouraged by overall economic improvement. Moreover, schemes introduced by the government, like Help to Buy, are allowing potential buyers to purchase a home with a down payment of just 5%. Earlier, George Osborne said the programme will be extended for new homes to 2020 in order to boost construction sector. The government will invest additional 6 billion pounds in the programme, with additional funding projected to support the construction of new 120,00 properties.
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