U.K. House Prices Rise the Most Since 2002, Acadametrics Says

March 12 (Bloomberg) -- U.K. house prices increased in February at the fastest pace in more than seven years, research group Acadametrics Ltd. said.

The average cost of a home in England and Wales was 222,008 pounds ($334,033), up 1.9 percent from January in the biggest advance since September 2002, Acadametrics founder David Thorpe said in a telephone interview. Values are still 4 percent below their February 2008 peak, the group said in an estimate released by e-mail today.

The measurement is at odds with other housing data that show values fell last month and is likely to be revised down, Thorpe said. Some property market indicators show Britain’s housing recovery lost momentum this year after the looming general election, an increase in transaction tax and colder- than-average winter weather deterred buyers.

“The numbers at the moment are very volatile because of low transactions,” Thorpe said. “When more transactions come through we would expect this 1.9 percent to drop.”

Transactions in January plunged 52 percent from December to 36,000, an 11-month low, the research group said.

Acadametrics uses methodology employed by the U.S. S&P/Case-Shiller price index, combining initial housing transaction data from the U.K. Land Registry and results from other price measures to produce an estimate for the most recent month. That number is then revised in following months. The gauge was formerly called the Financial Times House Price Index.

To contact the reporter on this story: Scott Hamilton in London at shamilton8@bloomberg.net.