House prices in England and Wales grew by 10.7% this June, shows the latest price index from e.surv.

This brings the average house price to £336,247, with a monthly change of 0.8%.

The £32,500 more that the average property costs in the 12 months to June means house prices have risen at the fastest rate since February 2005, e.surv points out, adding that homemovers have moved into a market that was previously dominated by first-time buyers.

The most significant annual rise occurred in the North West, which despite seeing a monthly drop of 1.1%, totted up 17.3% annual growth this June.

Yorkshire and the Humber was not far behind – again, this saw a monthly fall this time of 0.6%, but clocked up an annual growth rate of 15.5%.

The weakest annual growth was in Greater London, at 1.2% – and monthly it recorded a fall of 0.6%.

Director Richard Sexton comments: “It is now fourteen months since any of the areas in our index have recorded a fall in house prices, and this is while the UK economy has been under the severest pressure it has faced in living memory.

“Any slowing of price rises in the period of March to May because of the initial expected end of the stamp duty holiday has been short-lived. This is in part because of the extension of the holiday but also the more general optimism in the economy which has seen many transactions that were previously postponed come back online.

“[The] 95% LTV mortgage guarantee scheme… is giving continued support and confidence to borrowers and mortgage lenders, many of whom have re-introduced their own higher LTV lending to the market.

“This fiscal support, combined with the UK’s monetary policy of historically low interest rates, continues to make home moves more affordable and has meant buyers can take advantage of cheaper borrowing and the savings they have made in lockdown to make their home moves.”