London home prices at record high

LONDON: Home sellers here raised asking prices to a record high this month and led gains across the UK as the shortage of properties for sale intensified, Rightmove plc said.

The average cost of a home in the capital rose 6.5%, the most since records began in 2002, to £416,157 (RM2.29 million), the owner of the UK’s biggest residential property website said on Oct 19 in a statement.

Prices climbed 2.8% across the UK as transaction levels dropped by half from 2007.

London asking prices have now surpassed the peak reached in November 2007, Rightmove said.

The report shows how the credit squeeze, the construction slump and a shortage of properties have combined to skew the UK housing market at a time when the recession and rising unemployment have hurt affordability. -- Bloomberg LP