Yet another report confirms a slow in house price growth for the UK, as the latest Halifax House Price Index shows annual growth to now be at 1.1%.
The highlights for this latest report from Halifax include:
- House prices in September were 1.1% higher than in the same month a year earlier
- On a monthly basis, house prices fell by 0.4%
- In the latest quarter (July to September) house prices were 0.4% higher than in the preceding three months (April to June)
Russell Galley, Managing Director, Halifax, said: “Annual house price growth slowed somewhat in September, rising by just 1.1% over the last year. Whilst this is lowest level of growth since April 2013, it remains in keeping with the predominantly flat trend we’ve seen in recent months.
“Underlying market indicators, including completed sales and mortgages approvals, continue to be broadly stable. Meanwhile for buyers, important affordability measures – such as wage growth and interest rates – still look favourable.
“Looking ahead, we expect activity levels and price growth to remain subdued while the current period of economic uncertainty persists.”
Lucy Pendleton, founder director of independent estate agents James Pendleton, comments: “The housing market’s game of musical statues continues. The only problem is that a rowdy bunch of competitive parents have been jostling for control of the off button for months and the music never actually stops.
“Annual growth is now at a six and a half year low and any fuel injection provided by buyer incentives and low mortgage borrowing rates has long gone. The fumes of uncertainty are all that enter now, and the housing market’s engine must take what sustenance it can until the UK’s political future is more assured.
“This index has gone from gazelle to sloth in only a matter of months, although some tinkering with the methodology has now removed the astoundingly high year on year figures we saw in the first half of the year from the index.”