The UK housing market is showing true, fundamental signs of a promising recovery, according to the Halifax.  Evidence is popping up in most housing data that is available.  During the month of April, the average value of a UK house increased more than 1.0%.  This occurred in the wake of 0.4% in March, and 0.5% in February.  These figures were slightly offset by the number of mortgage approvals falling during the first quarter of 2013.  They dropped 1%.  This is typically an accurate indicator of sales.

According to Halifax, mortgage payments, as a percentage of disposable income now only represent 28% of it, compared with almost 50% in the middle of 2007.  This represents an increase in the amount of household income, but more importantly a decrease in the amount of interest rates house owners are able to obtain today.

Giles Hannah, managing director of VanHan, commented on the current status of the location of growth in the housing market, saying: "The UK as a whole is seeing modest growth, with areas such as London, Oxford and Henley seeing price rises while Nottingham, Wales and the Midlands have seen price falls. The overall outlook is broadly positive, however, with market confidence across the UK improving, although activity is still subdued by historical standards.

"London is undoubtedly the big success story and is doing a good job of pulling up the national average. Its residential sales market remains robust with prices continuing to rise. International buyers, particularly from Asia, are fuelling demand for best in-class properties and are snapping up properties at 10 to 14 per cent discounts as a result of the weakness of sterling compared with their own currencies. UK-based buyers are also highly active, not just internationals, and are seeing investment in London property as an alternative to a pension and a way of maintaining and growing their wealth.

"We have also witnessed a rise in French high-net-worth families relocating to London owing to the increased taxes in France, creating a shortage of supply in the £5m-plus bracket and fuelling price rises. Holland Park has seen a vast uplift in sales activity and significant house price increases, for example.”

Hannah continued: "The Cyprus situation has seen a number of people purchasing via offshore companies having to restructure their purchase, causing a delay to some transactions. However, London has benefitted from funds being moved from less stable euro economies into the London property market, and we don't see this changing anytime soon."