A significant jump in London house prices has helped to keep the overall average cost of buying a home going up, according to Nationwide Building Society.
Producing its latest price figures, the mortgage lender noted that the first quarter of the year saw a 1.6 per cent rise across the UK, taking the annual rate of increase to 8.8 per cent.
Every region saw prices going up in the quarter, but London led the way at 2.5 per cent, making its increase over the past 12 months 15 per cent.
Nationwide chief economist Martin Gahbauer added that the north was tending to see prices rise by less, which continued the trend seen in 2009.
The figures came in contrast to the Land Registry data for February, which showed an overall price dip of 0.3 per cent in the month.
In addition to this, the regions with the two largest price rises during the month were the north west and the Yorkshire and Humber areas, while London prices declined by 0.5 per cent.
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