MortgagesOct 6 2015

Annual house price growth slows down: Halifax

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Annual house price growth slows down: Halifax

Halifax has shown that annual house prices in the UK have slowed from 9 per cent to 8.6 per cent in September, meaning the average house price is now around £202,859.

The bank’s monthly house price index, published today (6 October), showed that monthly house prices were also down, by 0.9 per cent.

UK home sales increased by 3 per cent between July and August, to 106,480. This was the highest monthly total since February 2014, when sales reached 109,030.

Sales in the three months to August were 6.5 per cent higher than in the preceding three months.

Mortgage approvals increased for the third successive month in August, with the volume for house purchases rising by 3 per cent to the highest level since January 2014.

However, property supply is low and continues to fall, with new instructions by home sellers declining in August for the seventh consecutive month.

This helped to push down the stock of homes available for sale again in August, to a new record low for the third successive month.

Martin Ellis, Halifax’s housing economist, said that demand has been strengthening recently, underpinned by economic growth, rising real earnings and very low mortgage rates.

“Increasing demand is combining with very low supply to drive robust underlying house price growth. There is little reason to expect any fundamental shift in the key market drivers over the coming months.”

Yesterday, Halifax’s quarterly price tracker revealed that despite expectations of an interest rate rise, consumer confidence remains high.

A sharp increase in the proportion of the British public who are expecting an interest rate rise in the next 12 months failed to dent confidence in the outlook for house price growth.

emma.hughes@ft.com