Based on data from the Halifax House Price Index database, the Communities and Local Government, the Scottish Executive and the Welsh Assembly, the Halifax Annual Review presented a positive view of the market.
Its findings revealed a rise of almost 9 per cent in 2007, with housing stock tripling in price over the past decade. Housing equity increased by nearly £2 trillion over the past decade.
Housing equity increased by £198 billion in 2007 and has seen an average annual increase of £185 billion over the past five years, Halifax suggested.
In comparison to outstanding mortgage debt, which currently stands at around £1.2 trillion, the value of private housing stock was almost three and a half times the value of outstanding mortgage debt.
To divide the UK, the value of housing assets in the South was 55 per cent at £2.2 billion compared to £1.8 billion in the North.
However, the North/South housing wealth gap narrowed over the past five years with the South accounting for 61 per cent in 2002 and the North for 39 per cent.
Martin Ellis, chief economist at Halifax, commented: “UK home owners have collectively accumulated an extra £2 trillion of equity in their homes over the past decade as property prices have risen.
"This has significantly strengthened the household balance sheet. Mortgage debt accounts for only 30 per cent of the value of the UK’s £4 trillion worth of housing assets.”
Simon Rubinsohn, chief economist at the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors, said: “Unless inflation proves an increasing barrier to the Bank of England’s ability to lower Base Rate there is unlikely to be a material decline in house prices.”
Try your luck in our latest quiz
get the daily news delivered to your inbox
find the latest industry jobs
