U.K. home prices show signs of cooling off in October

The U.K.’s house-price growth slowed markedly during October, a British lender’s data showed on Wednesday, suggesting that the housing market may have cooled slightly.

Prices were unchanged in October compared with the previous month, marking the first month of no price growth in over a year, Nationwide Building Society said. Compared with October last year, house prices grew by 4.6%, significantly below the 5.3% annual growth rate seen in September.

Whether house prices hold up in the aftermath of the June 23 vote to leave the European Union matters to the overall health of the world’s fifth-biggest economy. Over the past three decades, U.K. households have cut spending every time that house prices have fallen.

Earlier this week, the Bank of England said the number of new mortgages in the U.K. rose slightly in September after it fell to a near two-year low the previous month.

Source: MarketWatch