Stark figures from yet another new index

Rightmove claims its asking prices show a North-South divide in the housing market that is even starker than many anticipated - and has even produced yet another index to show it.

New figures released this morning on a county-by-county basis show that while average national asking prices, buoyed by London and the south of England, are now 8.2 per cent higher than the May 2008 peak, many other areas are still struggling badly.

On average, counties in the north of England have reported a decline of six per cent or more on 2008 levels - a sharp contrast to central London and the City, for example, where the average price of a property has increased by almost £500,000 in that time, up 41.9 per cent to £1,512,555.

The figures come to mark the release of a new Rightmove index - yes, yet another house price index - called the House Price Trendometer. It allows people to see how asking prices in their county have fared since Rightmove's house price index began in 2001.

North of the Midlands all counties except Cheshire and north Yorkshire have reported a decline, with the biggest decrease occurring in County Durham, down 13.4 per cent from May 2008 to £114,554.

The data shows that nearly all of the national house price growth has come from London and the south of England, with all areas of the capital up at least 30 per cent in the past six years. Outside London the highest riser is Cambridgeshire, up 21.9 per cent to £311,933.

Other areas of strong growth outside of the capital include Surrey (up 16.1 per cent) and Berkshire (up 16.4 per cent).

If you think this brings to an end the flurry of new price indices which we have to choose from, think again - Estate Agent Today has heard that Hometrack is shortly bringing out an index of city prices.