London home prices rise amid shortage

[LONDON] Asking prices for London homes rose to a record this month as values increased in all but one of the capital's 32 boroughs, according to Rightmove Plc.

Prices in the UK capital climbed 3.6 per cent from March to an average £572,348 (S$1.2 million), taking the gain from a year earlier to almost 16 per cent, the website operator said in an e-mailed report yesterday. Across England and Wales, values rose 2.6 per cent to £262,594 also an all-time high, amid a lack of property for sale in southern England.

Britain's housing market is being fuelled by strengthening economic growth, record-low borrowing costs and official incentive programmes.