House price reports pressure Bank to raise rates

Hometrack's figures suggested a house price inflation rate of 0.7% in March. Nationwide said 1.4%, and Halifax 2.2%. That puts annualised inflation at 18.5% according to Halifax, while Nationwide has upped its forecast for all of 2004 to 15%. These figures all suggest inflation is running at higher levels than in the same period last year. And the rise is being felt nationwide, Hometrack adds, with restricted supply and continued strong employement combining to push prices higher. John Wriglesworth, Hometrack's housing economist, says: "Demand by new buyers is outweighing sup...