UK house price growth accelerated during the last three months of 2006, according to research published by Nationwide in its Quarterly Regional Review.
House prices grew at an annual rate of 9.3 per cent in the fourth quarter, or £40 sterling a day, up from 6.9 per cent in the third quarter, it said.
Compared with the third quarter, prices were 3.3 per cent higher during the last three months of the year.
The rise was led by the London area, where houses became 11.3 per cent more expensive and where the first time price growth moved into double-digits in over two years, the report said.
The price of a typical property in London is now £269,327 sterling, 56.5 per cent higher than the average price in the United Kingdom.
Other regions where house price growth was high were Northern Ireland, with a massive 44.1 per cent annual rate, and Scotland, with a 16 per cent rate.