Prices of new build homes up 12%

Average price is now £233,822

The average house price of new build property in the UK has increased by 12 per cent over the past five years, according to Halifax.

Over the last decade the national rise is 40 per cent, the biggest rise in Greater London where the average price for a new home has risen by 57 per cent to £415,540.

Over the past five years, more than half of UK regions saw the average price of new homes drop. The biggest falls were in the north, down 10 percent to an average of £157,190.

In 2012, flats (37 per cent) were the most popular type of new property sold, followed by terraced homes (24 per cent) and detached properties (23 per cent). Yorkshire and the Humber had the greatest proportion of terraced properties sold (30 per cent), with Greater London seeing the highest proportion of sales of new build flats in 2012 (88 per cent).

Craig McKinlay, new mortgages director for Halifax said: "In a relatively flat housing market, the new homes market has changed enormously over the past five years. We have seen a lot of positive sentiment towards the new homes market, with various schemes launched to get the house building industry moving and changes in policies and deposit requirements allowing shared equity buyers to participate more fully in the new build market."