Having risen by 8% in the past year, British house prices are almost back to the double-digit pace that preceded the financial crisis

Having risen by 8% in the past year, British house prices are almost back to the double-digit pace that preceded the financial crisis. The housing headache is made worse because different parts of the country are on completely different tracks. In Scotland and Northern Ireland, house prices are up by less than 1% in a year, meaning real prices are going backwards. But the south-east is red hot: London is the core, with prices up 17% in a year. The big worry is not the house prices themselves: a house is an asset, after all. The problem is the debt that sits behind it. Britons are stretching to meet ever-rising prices by borrowing more. Average loan-to-income ratios have passed their 2007 peak. This threatens to throttle the economy. Interest-rate rises within a year are starting to look likely. Read More: (VIEW LINK)