Prime central London house prices have soared nearly 60% during Mervyn King's 10-year reign as governor of the Bank of England.

According to Cluttons, the average cost of prime residential property in the capital was £1,013,384 when King took the position in the third quarter in 2003. Ten years later, house prices average £1,604,873.

Prime central London rents have also risen from an average of £700 per week in Q3 2003 to £1,014 in Q2 2013 - a 44% increase.

UK house prices have risen 3.8% pa during the 10 years, increasing from £128,251 in July 2003 to £167,912 in May, according to Nationwide figures.

Sue Foxley, head of research at Cluttons, said: "During King's reign the central London market has experienced some extreme highs along with the occasional period of negative growth, especially following the 2008 crash when the market was starved of capital and mortgage lending plummeted.

"Since then, low interest rates have helped support the market, coupled with strong demand from overseas investors.

"As the new governor Mark Carney arrives, we expect to see more than 5% growth in prime central London house prices this year, followed by increases of around 4% pa between 2014 and 2018.

"Subdued rental growth is expected to persist this year with increases of 3% expected, rising to 3.5% growth in 2014 and 4% growth in both 2015 and 2016."