LONDON: House prices increased for a ninth month last month as rental investors rushed to purchase property before a tax increase, Nationwide Building Society said.
The average price of a home rose 0.8 percent from February to ￡200,251, the lender said in a statement yesterday. The annual rate of growth surged to 5.7 percent, the strongest in more than a year. A shortage of homes for sale is being aggravated by landlords trying to buy investment properties before a tax change on second homes takes effect this month.
