By. James Salmon. House prices have grown at their fastest pace since the financial crisis, fuelling fears that the Help to Buy scheme is inflating a new property bubble. In the latest sign of recovery in the housing market, an influential report from Hometrack has found that three quarters of postcodes registered price gains this year. This is up from just a fifth last year. Across England and Wales, average prices rose by 4.4 per cent to £206,726 – the highest registered by Hometrack since October 2007 and a rebound from last year’s 0.3 per cent fall. House prices have grown at their fastest pace since the financial crisis, fuelling fears that the Help to Buy scheme is inflating a new property bubble. By far the biggest gains were in London and the south east, with average prices growing 9.1 per cent and 5 per cent respectively. The average price of a house in London is now £422,860, and Hertfordshire has the next highest average at £340,333. Demand for housing also soared by 25 per cent, the fastest pace for three years, while the supply of new homes fell to a record low, increasing just 6 per cent. The report said it expected ‘the momentum in house price growth to spill over into 2014 by a continued lack of supply and rising demand’. The huge inbalance lends weight to concerns that the housing market is overheating following the introduction of the Government’s Help to Buy Scheme in April, which was launched to help those with small deposits get their foot on the property ladder. But over the next fortnight leading forecasters are expected to show that the housing market has been turbo-charged by the Help to Buy scheme and a glut of cheap mortgage deals. Halifax’s latest index is expected to show prices rose 8.1 per cent in the year to December, the fastest since October 2007. Meanwhile, Nationwide is set to predict growth of 7.1 per cent, which would be the best since June 2010. This raft of data is likely to be latched on by critics of Help to Buy, ranging from business secretary Vince Cable to former Bank of England governor Lord King. They argue that Help to Buy is artificially driving up house prices – particularly in London and the south east – because there are not enough homes to cope with soaring demand. The Institute for Public Policy Research, the prominent left-leaning think-tank, also warned this weekend that the Chancellor ‘risks pumping up a fresh housing bubble with the Help to Buy scheme’. It fears a repeat of the massive build-up of household debt before 2008, which contributed to the financial crisis. But supporters of the scheme – including David Cameron – have played down the concerns.The Hometrack report shows a stark north-south divide in the housing market. The north was the only region to see a drop in prices, of 0.5 per cent, while homeowners in the north east experienced an average rise of just 0.5 per cent. In Merseyside the average house is now £149,300 and in Teesside it is £141,400. Hometrack said a ‘broader based recovery in the housing market is dependent on growth in the real economy, jobs and household incomes’.

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Hometrack report found three quarters of postcodes registered price gains. Across England and Wales, average prices rose by 4.4 per cent to £206,726. Highest registered by Hometrack since 2007 - fuelling fears of 'bubble'

Problem: Dust devils on Mars can grow to the size of terrestrial tornadoes, with a funnel more than 330ft (100 metres) wide stretching up to 12 miles (19km) above the surface. Their smaller counterparts on Earth form when heating of the ground causes a warm layer of air rising through the more dense layers of air above. Now, a new study has found that it's not just their size that sets Martian dust devils apart; they also require a stronger updraft create a similar vortex than on Earth. Spinning a dust devil in the thin air of Mars requires a stronger updraft than is needed to create a similar vortex on Earth, researchers claim. Pictured is a dust devil reaching above the plain of Mars' Amazonis Planitia. The discovery could help scientists analyse how dust affects the Martian weather system - a piece of information that will impact deep space missions to the red planet. 'To start a dust devil on Mars you need convection, a strong updraft,' said Bryce Williams, an atmospheric science graduate student at the University of Alabama in Huntsville (UAH). 'We looked at the ratio between convection and surface turbulence to find the sweet spot where there is enough updraft to overcome the low level wind and turbulence. 'And on Mars, where we think the process that creates a vortex is more easily disrupted by frictional dissipation – turbulence and wind at the surface – you need twice as much convective updraft as you do on Earth.' Dust devils on Mars can grow to the size of terrestrial tornadoes, with a funnel more than 330ft (100 metres) wide stretching as much as 12 miles (19km) above the surface (left). Their smaller counterparts on Earth form when heating of the ground causes a warm layer of air rising through the more dense layers of air (right) Dust devils and tornadoes are common on Mars. Here they have lifted the thin bright dust on the surface of the Schiaparelli Basin, exposing darker material underneath. The team looked for the dust devil sweet spot by combining data from a study of Australian dust devils with meteorological observations collected during the Viking Lander mission. They are now looking at the effects dust devils have on lifting dust into the Martian atmosphere, and changing the planet's climate. 'The Martian air is so thin, dust has a greater effect on energy transfers in the atmosphere and on the surface than it does in Earth's thick atmosphere,' said Professor Udaysankar Nair. Dust in the Martian air cools the surface during the day and emits long-wave radiation that warms the surface at night. Nasa scientists in California have revealed evidence that suggests there is life on Mars based on readings taken by the Curiosity rover (shown). They said methane spikes on the planet could be produced by bacteria. And at the moment there is no alternative explanation for the spikes. In the past few months, conclusive evidence has been found that Mars once had water on its surface, but one greater question remains: Was there, or is there still, life on Mars as well? Scientists may be on the brink of answering that question with an equally conclusive 'yes', as convincing evidence has been detected by Nasa's Curiosity rover. An instrument on the rover identified spikes of methane that scientists believe may have come from bacteria-like organisms on the surface - and it could be the first alien life ever detected. 'This temporary increase in methane - sharply up and then back down - tells us there must be some relatively localiSed source,' said Sushil Atreya of the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, and Curiosity rover science team. 'There are many possible sources, biological or non-biological, such as interaction of water and rock.' Previous satellite observations have detected unusual plumes of methane on the planet. But none of these previous readings are as extraordinary as the sudden 'venting' measured at Gale Crater, where evidence suggests water once flowed billions of years ago. While spotting dust devil tracks is relatively common, catching these whirling dervishes on the Martian surface can be tough. Earlier this year, observations from the High-Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera on board Nasa's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter caught three dust devils in action. Despite their reputation, they can actually help solar panelled robots on the Martian surface. For instance, the Mars Rover Opportunity underwent a 'cleaning event' this year, when a dust devil blew off material stuck to its surface. Earlier this year, observations from the High-Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera on board Nasa's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter caught three dust devils in action.
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Answer:
On Mars, dust devils can stretch up to 12 miles (19km) above the surface. They form when heating of the ground causes a warm layer of air rising through the more dense layers of air above. Scientists used meteorological data with information from Viking lander. They found that due to the Martian atmosphere, twice as much wind is needed to create the dust devils. This could help scientists analyse how dust affects Mars' weather system.