British house prices rise 0.6% in February

British house prices have posed a continuous rising momentum this year, with the monthly price up 0.6 percent in February and annual price surging 9.4 percent, according to the Nationwide Building Society on Friday. The mortgage lender said in its monthly house prices index report that house prices had recorded their 14th successive monthly increase. "Demand continues to be supported by record low interest rates, improved credit availability and rising consumer confidence thanks to the healthy gains in employment recorded in recent quarters," said Robert Gardner, Nationwide's chief economist. The average house price in February was up to 177,846 pounds (297,144 U.S. dollars) from 176,491 pounds last month. However, house prices were still about 3 percent below their 2007 peak. Nationwide figures showed that in England around 109,500 new homes were built in 2013, this is 38 percent below the level recorded in 2007 and around half the projected number of households that are expected to form each year in the years ahead. The latest official figures showed that British house prices increased by 5.5 percent last year, bringing the average price to 250,000 pounds (416,737 U.S. dollars) in December 2013. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said: "House price growth is beginning to increase strongly across parts of the UK, with prices in London increasing at more than double the UK average." London still led the country in house price with the growth rate standing at 12.3 percent last year.