HOUSE prices have surged by 10.2% over the last year to reach a new all-time high of £265,000 typically, official figures show.

Property values in London have continued to increase around twice as quickly as those across the UK, with the capital seeing a 19.3% jump in prices in the 12 months to June, according to the data released by the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

The average house price in London is now just shy of half a million pounds, at £499,000, and the ONS said that "house prices are increasing strongly across most parts of the UK".

The report reveals that a typical first-time buyer faces paying 12.0% more for their starter home than they did a year ago, which the ONS said is the highest annual increase seen for this sector since April 2010.

In June, which is the most recent month for which the figures are available, the average price paid for a house by a first-time buyer was £204,000.

On a month-on-month basis, house prices in general increased across the UK by 0.5% between May and June.

London and the South East are continuing to record the strongest annual price uplifts, and the ONS said that if these regions were taken out of the figures, UK house prices would have increased at a slower pace of 6.3% in the 12 months to June and they would stand at £201,000 on average.

However, all regions have seen house price growth over the last year. The North East remains the English region with the lowest average house prices, at around £150,000. However, prices in the North East have lifted by 4.4% annually.

Wales has seen the smallest annual price growth out of all the UK nations and regions, with a 3.5% year-on-year increase taking average prices there to £167,000.

In Scotland, property values have grown by 6.0% annually, pushing the average house price there to £193,000. Northern Ireland, which saw some sharp falls in property values in the wake of the financial crisis, has seen prices lift by 4.9% over the last year, taking them to £137,000 typically.

Property values in England have risen at a faster rate than the UK average, with a 10.7% annual increase pushing the average price to £276,000.

England remains the only UK country where property prices are higher than their pre-financial crisis peak, now standing at 10% above their previous high seen in 2008.

Prices in Northern Ireland are around 47% below their previous peak, while those in Wales are sitting around 3% below their previous peak levels. Values in Scotland are the closest to touching their previous peak, currently standing at 1.6% below their previous high in 2008.

© Press Association 2014