Annual house price growth at 2.8%

Annual house price growth at 2.8%

10:42 AM, 6th March 2020, About 4 years ago

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The Latest Halifax house price index report for February is indicating prices in February were 2.8% higher than in the same month a year earlier with the average house price of now £240,677 nationally.

On a monthly basis, house prices rose by 0.3% and in the latest quarter (December to February) house prices were 2.9% higher than in the preceding three months.

Russell Galley, Managing Director, Halifax, said: “The UK housing market has remained steady heading into early spring, with house prices increasing by 0.3% in February and up 2.8% on the previous year.

“Much like we saw in January, the increases seen in February reflect the continued improvement of key market indicators. The sustained level of buyer and seller activity is strong compared to recent years, with positive employment conditions and a competitive mortgage market continuing to support demand.

“Looking ahead, there are a number of risks, including the potential impact of coronavirus, which continue to exert pressure on the economy and we wait to see how these will affect housing market sentiment later in the year.”

Housing activity

HMRC Monthly property transactions data shows a rise in UK home sales in January. UK seasonally adjusted residential transactions in January 2020 were 102,810 – up by 4.1% from December and the highest level since July 2017. Year-on-year, transactions in January were approximately 5.2% higher than January 2019 (12.7% higher on a non-seasonally adjusted basis). (Source: HMRC, seasonally-adjusted figures)

Mortgage approvals have risen from December. Bank of England figures show that the number of mortgages approved to finance house purchases were 70,888 in January 2020 – this represents a 4.4%month on month rise, following a rise of 3.0% in December. Year on year growth is 7.1%. (Source: Bank of England, seasonally-adjusted figures)

The latest set of results (January 2020) for the RICS Residential Market Survey have shown continued improvement, with demand, sales and new instructions moving further into positive territory. Agreed sales rose for a second month to a net balance of +21% in January. Instructions to sell also rose from+11% in December to +19%. Buyer demand is also up to +23% (+19% in December). (Source: Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors’ (RICS) monthly report)


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