UK house prices level out as Covid boom subsides
UK house prices have dropped for the second time over the past three months in a sign the surge experienced over the previous year is starting to level out.
Average UK house prices dropped by 0.1 per cent in September from August’s record highs of £293,992.
The September drop marks the second marginal decrease over the past three months, after house prices also fell 0.1 per cent in July, data from Halifax’s House Price Index (HPI) shows.
The downturn in September comes after prices increased 0.3 per cent in August, leaving UK house prices relatively flat over the previous quarter.
The situation has meant house prices have increased just £250 over the past three months compared to £10,000 over the three months before.
Since the start of the pandemic, UK house prices have risen by almost £55,000 (23 per cent) with detached house prices up more than £100,000.
London showed the slowest rates of house price growth with prices rising just 8.1 per cent over the previous year to heights of £553,849.
Kim Kinnaird, director of Halifax Mortgages, said: “Predicting what happens next means making sense of the many variables now at play, and the housing market has consistently defied expectations in recent times.”
“While stamp duty cuts, the short supply of homes for sale and a strong labour market all support house prices, the prospect of interest rates continuing to rise sharply amid the cost of living squeeze, plus the impact in recent weeks of higher mortgage borrowing costs on affordability, are likely to exert more significant downward pressure on house prices in the months ahead.”