Shortage pushes homes up £3,500

A continuing shortage of homes for sale in high-cost areas helped push house prices up by more than £3,500 in February.

The lack of properties available for househunters, especially in London and the South East, has made market conditions the tightest in two years, according to Halifax - driving up the price of both family homes and first-time buyer properties.

Britain's biggest mortgage lender said that the cost of the average home leapt by 1.8% in February to reach £192,233, with the annual increase in prices remaining at 9.9%.

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