House prices continue to grow in February

Nationwide has published figures which have highlighted a continuing trend for house price growth during February. Their statistics revealed a 0.6% increase in average values since January to £177,846. This represents and annual rise of 9.4%.

Houseladder.co.uk reported that this is the 14th consecutive monthly increase in house prices, boosting the confidence within the housing sector.

Robert Gardner, Chief Economist at Nationwide, commented: "Price growth is being supported by the fact that the supply of housing remains constrained, with housing completions still well below their 
pre-crisis levels, which was already insufficient to keep up with the pace of household formation."

He added that cash buyers have played a crucial role in the recovery of the UK housing market, with 35% of all purchases being cash buyers.