A new report by the Office of National Statistics revealed that the average house price in Britain was £217,000 in July, which is an 8.3% year-on-year increase.

While an 8.3% increases is slower than the 9.7% increase in June, the report said that it continues “the strong growth seen since the end of 2013.”

London still has have the highest growth at 12.3%. The average house price in London is £485,000. This compares to the South East at £313,000 and the East of England at £274,000. The North East has England’s lowest house price average at £130,000.

Thomas Fisher, an economist at PwC, was quoted in a September 2016 PropertyWire.com article as saying:

“This suggests that market demand remained relatively resilient after the Brexit vote.”

Many financial experts predict that house prices will continue to rise. In the same article, Andrew McPhillips of the Yorkshire Building Society said:

“Looking to the long-term, we expect people’s desire to own a property, combined with the persisting lack of housing stock, to cause house prices to increase in the future.”

The price increases are beneficial for people wanting to release equity in their houses by remortgaging, but makes it more difficult for first-time homebuyers and buy-to-let landlords who need to find higher deposits and borrow more from standard or commercial mortgages. However, many lenders have recently decreased their mortgages interest rates to make mortgage repayments more widely affordable.

The Government is helping first-time buyers with its Help to Buy scheme, which makes it easier for people to make their first step onto the property ladder.