House prices in Britain paint stark picture of north-south divide

House prices in Britain's capital have experienced the biggest ever rise across the country in the past year, figures published Tuesday revealed.

The average price of a home in London reached 472,163 pounds (622,000 U.S. dollars) in May, an annual rise of 13.6 percent over the year, the official Land Registry reported.

By contrast, the price of property in northwest England fell by 0.3 percent between April and May, giving an average price of 145,730 pounds.

The northeast of England recorded the lowest annual increase in May of 3.2 percent, over five percentage points lower than the average in England.

The northeast also remained the cheapest place in England to buy a home, with an average cost of 124,466 pounds, with the northwest being the second cheapest place to live in England.

Across England, the May data showed an annual price increase of 8.9 percent, or an average property value of 226,807 pounds.

House prices in Wales recorded an annual price increase of 3.6 percent, bringing the average property value to 142,568 pounds.

Across Britain, average house prices in May reached 211,230 pounds, a rise of 1.1 percent compared to April, and an annual rise over the previous 12 months of 8.1 percent.

"Following a strong increase in sales in the month prior to the stamp duty changes in March 2016, UK home sales fell by 42.3 percent in April 2016 to their lowest level since May 2013. These have only recovered slightly in May 2016," a Land Registry spokeswoman said Tuesday.

On house types, the figures showed the most expensive properties in Britain were detached houses in London, which fetch an average of 864,000 pounds. (1 pound = 1.32 U.S. dollars) Endit