House prices continue to increase

House prices continued rise in the second quarter of the year, albeit at a slower rate than previously, a new report indicates.

The latest Nationwide Quarterly House Price Report shows that the rate of annual house price inflation was 10.2 per cent in second quarter of the year - compared to 9.5 per cent in the previous quarter.

However, the quarterly change in the second three months of the year was just 2.1 per cent - against a figure of 2.3 per cent in the first quarter of the year.

Now, a landlord looking to expand his portfolio of property will have to spend £181,810 on a new house.

"Prices increased by at least five per cent in every region of the UK over the past 12 months, with five out of 13 regions recording double-digit growth," explained Fionnuala Earley, Nationwide's chief economist.

"As per the first quarter of 2007, Northern Ireland and London led the market during April-June, with annual price growth reaching 54 per cent and 15.7per cent respectively.

"At a national level, the annual rate of house price growth increased slightly … This masked a slowing of the quarterly pace of growth for the second quarter in a row."

Recently, UCB Home Loans explained that rising house prices could mean that more people would have to rent for longer before buying.