Housing market sees strong summer

The housing market has seen a strong summer, with prices climbing in August, according to moneywise.co.uk.
After the economic downturn, house prices plummeted but are pulling themselves back up to pre-recession levels, new data has shown.
Nationwide found that UK property prices had risen by 0.6 per cent in August and were 3.5 per cent higher than the same time in 2012. Property for sale in the North East has an average price of £99,718, dailymail.co.uk reports, making housing an affordable prospect for first-time buyers.
In contrast, London house prices appear to be spiralling out of reach, as figures get to an all time high of £385,800.
Director of e.surv chartered surveyors, Richard Sexton, said: "The housing market is being lifted by a rising tide of mortgage lending.
"House purchase lending is 30 per cent higher than last July, which reflects the drastic improvement in the availability of high loan-to-value mortgages."
The numbers of mortgage approvals have risen, provoking some experts to hint that another boom in the housing market is around the corner.
Mortgage lenders have also forecast a rise of 2.7 per cent for the average house price by the end of the year, a figure based on sales data from the Land Registry for the first half of the year.