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UK house prices drop for the first time in 17 months
UK house prices have dropped for the first time in 17 months, dipping 0.2 per cent between August and September.
In price terms, this means a drop of £931 for the average residential property, from £189,306 to £188,374.
The data, from Nationwide, shows the annualised growth rate also slowed to 9.4 per cent from 11 per cent last month.
Nationwide's figures come on the back of several other sets of data suggesting house price growth is slowing, despite July figures from the ONS showing that the average price of a London house breached £500,000 for the first time.
Robert Gardner, Nationwide's chief economist, said that the longer term trends were still strong:
While September saw a slowing in house price growth, the picture on a quarterly basis (July, August and September combined) was still relatively strong, with all 13 UK regions recording annual price gains.Price growth may soften further in the final quarter of the year, given the high base for comparison from Q4 2013. However, the outlook remains uncertain.There have been tentative signs from surveyors and estate agents that buyer demand may be starting to moderate, but the low level of interest rates and strong labour market suggest that underlying demand is likely to remain robust.