UK house prices rise nearly 8% in a year #CarryGobySeanKellz #FutureGroupNG via @i_amreginaldjr

TYPICAL house prices are edging closer to the £200,000 mark, new figures show.

Property prices in London are at their highest over the past 12 months [GETTY]

And owners have seen the equity in their homes increase by £14,000 in the last year as they have reduced their mortgages in a climate of rising values, according to the UK’s biggest estate agency.

The cost of the average home jumped 7.9 per cent in the last 12 months to £191,375, according to the data from Haart, which has 300 branches across the UK.

There was a 21.3 per cent increase in sales as first-time buyers powered the market, paying an extra 13.3 per cent for their starter homes.

Homebuyers pushed mortgage borrowing up 43 per cent in the last year and banks and building societies handed out loans worth £15.2billion last month, compared with £10.6billion in February 2013.

First-time buyers are undeterred by property price rises and are now at their highest level in London over the past 12 months

Paul Smith, chief executive of Haart

Paul Smith, chief executive of Haart, said: “Homeowners across the UK, who have on average accumulated equity of £14,000 in their property over the past year, are expected to take advantage of their growing assets by re-mortgaging or downsizing this spring.

“The downsizers will ease the current shortage of supply which will help to quell rising house prices. The increase in equity is now more than £90,000 annually in London. The UK market is buoyant, with property sales up by 21.3 per cent and new buyer registration up 32.3 per cent.

“First-time buyers are undeterred by property price rises and are now at their highest level in London over the past 12 months.”

Chancellor George Osborne confirmed earlier this week that the equity loan element of his Help To Buy scheme for first-time buyers will be extended until the end of the decade.