Britain’s FTSE 100 climbed to a seven-month high on Monday, as Greece was expected to seal a bailout package and after China eased its monetary policy.

The UK index of blue-chip shares gained 0.54%, or 32 points, to 5,937 – its highest since late July – and the All Share index added 0.53%, or 16 points, to 3,070. See the FTSE’s performance and the index’s top winners and losers.
Asking prices increased in every region of England and Wales, according to property website Rightmove. At 6.9%, the South East saw the largest increase, followed by the North with a rise of 5.6%.

Prices are also up 1.4% compared with last year, with London boasting the biggest annual rise of 4.3%.
Rightmove claims the ‘surprisingly strong’ rise is partly a result of demand outstripping supply in cash-rich sectors of the market.

Unsold stock per estate agent branch has fallen from an average of 75 properties to 67, and there is also a shortage of new listings.

London asking prices, for example, are just 1% off their all-time high, but the amount of property coming onto the market is down 9% on last year.

However, there is also evidence that confidence in the housing market is increasing, and the onset of spring generally leads to more ambitious pricing, Rightmove said.

Miles Shipside, director at Rightmove, said: 'We’re seeing a strong "spring bounce" in asking prices this year, but the ball is still a lot smaller than it was before the credit crunch as market volumes are constrained.

'There is pricing power if you are selling the right type of property in the right place where enough potential buyers have access to funding,' he said.

'If your local market does not have those characteristics and your price-pump is based on little more than seasonal optimism and an estate agents' hot air, then be prepared for buyer response to be a let-down'.