Average asking prices in England and Wales gained 2.9 percent in April to 243,737 pounds ($386,400), the operator of Britain’s biggest property website said in a report today. Prices in the capital increased 2.1 percent from the previous month to a record 464,944 pounds.

“This is not a universal signal of a housing-market recovery,” Miles Shipside, commercial director of Rightmove, said in a statement. “Fresh property stock is a bit scarcer this April compared to last, and this is a key factor in providing a price floor for spring prices to springboard from.”

Demand for homes in the capital and the south of England has exceeded supply, helping push up property values. While Britain’s economy has shown signs of recovery in the first quarter, mortgage approvals declined more than forecast in February and a survey by GfK NOP Ltd showed consumer confidence fell in March as the government’s fiscal squeeze hurt incomes.

London property prices have risen 14.9 percent since the last peak in prices in May 2008, while prices in the rest of the country fell 4.3 percent in the period, Rightmove said. The increase in value across the country is still less than retail- price inflation over the period. The report also showed 5 percent fewer London properties were put on the market in April than in March.

Kensington Rises Again

The London districts of Southwark, Sutton, Westminster, Croydon and Ealing recorded the largest monthly increases in asking prices within the capital, Rightmove said. The average price in Kensington and Chelsea, the most expensive borough, increased to 2.1 million pounds after breaking the 2 million- pound barrier for the first time last month.

Nationally, all 10 regions of England and Wales tracked by the company showed asking prices gained on the month, led by the southwest with a 5.8 percent increase.

From a year ago, asking prices rose 3.4 percent nationally and gained 7.9 percent in the capital, Rightmove said.

A shortage of homes for sale is also helping drive up rental costs. A separate report today showed that rents in London rose 9.6 percent in 2011, according to Hometrack Ltd.

To contact the reporter on this story: Svenja O’Donnell in London at sodonnell@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Craig Stirling at cstirling1@bloomberg.net

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-04-15/u-k-home-sellers-sought-record-prices-in-april-rightmove-says.html

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