House prices in the UK are continuing to rise, according to the May survey from property website, Hometrack, which said there was no sign of a slowdown.

And the increase in prices has not yet put off buyers. Hometrack's housing economist, John Wriglesworth, said “With little prospect of interest rates rising significantly this year, and with lenders continuing to aggressively push special mortgage offers, house buyers are still finding the means to afford more and more expensive properties."

The firm’s research saw an increase of 0.6 per cent in average house prices, bringing the total increase this year to 3.2 per cent.

The May figure is down from a 0.7 percent rise in April, and brings the total rise this year to 3.2 percent.

Hometrack reports that transactions are also continuing to increase with house sales up 2.7%, buyers up 2% and discounts on asking prices diminishing.

Regional details reported

Cumbria yet again heads the price rise league table of counties, with average prices rising by 1.5% in May. Cumbria has been consistently among the top performing counties for several months.

Other high risers are Lancashire (1.3%), South Lincolnshire (1.3%) and Northumberland (1.1%).

Cornwall is the highest rising southern county with house price rises of 1% in May. No counties experienced house price falls this month. The counties with the lowest house price rises are County Durham and East Riding of Yorkshire which each saw increases of 0.1%.

City hotspots

City hotspots this month included Carlisle (up 2.2%), Swindon (2.2%), Croydon (1.7%) and Preston (1.7%). London’s price rise of 0.7% lifted the capital’s average house price to above £250,000 for the first time. The previous high of £149,600 was recorded in October 2002.

Average sales price achieved as a percentage of asking price was 96.4%. While this is the same as last month, it is the highest percentage recorded since November 2002. This again points to further upward pressure on house prices for the rest of the year.

The average length of time taken to sell a property has fallen to 4.0 weeks (4.2 in April’s survey).

There is currently an average of 10.1 viewings before a sale is achieved.