-Robert Gardner, chief economist at Nationwide
Housing market in the U.K. is continuing to gain pace, as home prices soared most in 18 months, Nationwide Building Society said on Thursday. Prices climbed 1.1% in May from the same month a year earlier, the most since November 2011. On a monthly basis, they rose 0.4% from April to an average price of 167,912 pounds. The three-month figure, which is considered as a less volatile data rather than single monthly figures, was also in positive territory for the eighth straight month and showed an increase of 0.4%.
Earlier this month the Bank of England Governor Sir Mervyn King said that economic recovery is in sight as officials raised their forecast for growth. In the meantime, mortgage approvals probably jumped to 54,600 in April from 53,504 in the preceding month.
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