The average UK house price could reach £300,000 in the next three months, according to Rightmove.
Low interest rates and a lack of supply have driven property prices to a new record high.
House prices rose by an average of £2,550 in September, the greatest September increase since 2002.
The property portal reported that the 15 most expensive counties, including Surrey, Hertfordshire and Oxfordshire, have experienced price growth double the national average, at 1.8% in September. Fewer homeowners in these places are deciding to sell their homes.
House price growth in the most expensive counties
| Position | County | Average house price September 2015 |
Average house price August 2015 |
| 1 | Surrey | £545,841 | £537,270 |
| 2 | Hertfordshire | £460,074 | £460,956 |
| 3 | Oxfordshire | £437,042 | £431,701 |
| 4 | Buckinghamshire | £432,692 | £425,163 |
| 5 | Berkshire | £430,486 | £422,546 |
| 6 | West Sussex | £375,155 | £364,007 |
| 7 | East Sussex | £354,284 | £352,730 |
| 8 | Kent | £341,585 | £334,050 |
| 9 | Essex | £334,472 | £324,220 |
| 10 | Dorset | £324,841 | £320,529 |
| 11 | Hampshire | £321,589 | £313,535 |
| 12 | Cambridgeshire | £291,636 | £281,270 |
| 13 | Avon | £291,326 | £285,419 |
| 14 | Gloucestershire | £290,478 | £288,080 |
| 15 | Somerset | £288,413 | £283,557 |
In the north, new vendors were down 4.9% and 7.1% in the south, adds Rightmove.
In London, the average house price is expected to hit £1m by 2020.
The average asking price in the capital was £620,003 in September, a 0.8% increase on the previous record set in July. The annual rate of growth is now 9.5%, or £53,923 per year, due to a shortage of supply and rising demand from international investors. If this pace continues, the average London home will cost £1m in 2020.
Director and Housing Market Analyst at Rightmove, Miles Shipside, says that this rate is not sustainable.
He explains: “While we are not suggesting that this level of growth can or will be maintained, this extrapolation illustrates the desperate need for more building and more affordable housing in and around the capital.”1