"It is worth remembering that while the asking price and the eventual sale price may differ by a small margin, the asking price is a very strong indicator of perceived market value and direction"
- Miles Shipside, director of Rightmove
House sellers' average asking prices have exceeded 250,000 pounds for the first time. According to the latest monthly house price index by Rightmove, the national average asking price for a home had increased 1.2% over the past month to 252,798 pounds after George Osborne announced a Help to Buy scheme in his March budget. The Help to Buy plan ensures a portion of mortgages, which will be officially launched in January 2014. Nevertheless, the scheme faced criticism from the IMF, the BOE Governor, Sir Mervyn King, and City economists. Average house prices in London also rose to a new record high of 515,243 pounds, a 10.9% increase over the year.
Moreover, a further pick-up in the nation's economy is in prospect with consumer spending growing, business confidence improving and pressure on household finance easing, survey data showed on Monday. Financial services companies are the most confident, while more business expect to expand their operations over the next year, and increase staff numbers and exports. In addition to that, data shows that households are the least downbeat about their finances since February 2010.
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