"Some will see house price inflation as good news, but with a priced-out generation and their parents worried about their prospects of climbing on to the property ladder, the result will be many people tempted to overstretch themselves"
- The chief executive of the housing charity Shelter, Campbell Robb
After a series of reports on Britain's housing market that showed it represents almost 60% of country's net non-financial wealth, analysts started to express concerns the market may be heading toward a new housing price bubble. During the 2008 crisis the U.K. property market was hit significantly; however, recent figures show that the trend has been reversing sharply. The report from the ONS showed that national balance sheet, which is considered as a measure of the total net wealth, stood at 7.3 billion pounds at the end of last year. Moreover, housing was the most valuable, representing nearly 60% of total non-financial assets, and it was at the end of 2012, just before prices began to soar even more rapidly, hitting all-time highs. The main reasons behind the surge in house prices were government's schemes- 'Funding for Lending' scheme and another mortgage booster known as the 'Help to Buy' scheme, which all designed to offer cheap credit for banks to increase lending to households. Last month, data showed prices soared 0.3% to a median of 253,658 pounds, from a 1.2% gain a month earlier. The Rightmove Plc. now projects a 4% increase in prices over this year, double the figure expected previously, meaning the bubble will continue to grow. Furthermore, building starts jumped 6% annually and 7% on a monthly basis in the second quarter, while government still says it is not enough.
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