UK house prices rise by 0.1% in April ’24 – Halifax
UK house prices saw a slight increase of 0.1 per cent in April 2024, marking a 1.1 per cent year-on-year rise, despite high interest rates and following March’s annual growth of 0.4 per cent, according to mortgage lender Halifax’s data released on Tuesday, Reuters reported.
Despite Nationwide reporting an unexpected 0.4 per cent drop in April prices, there was a return to monthly growth following a 0.9 per cent decrease in prices in March, the first decline since September.
Halifax’s head of mortgages, Amanda Bryden, stated that average house prices had largely stabilised in early 2024.
According to a poll by Reuters, economists anticipate that the Bank of England (BOE) will maintain interest rates at a 16-year peak of 5.25 per cent in its May announcement on Thursday. Furthermore, financial markets predict that a rate cut is unlikely before August.
BoE mortgage approvals data, often a leading indicator for prices, reached an 18-month high in March, up 20 per cent year-on-year. This recovery followed market disruptions caused by former Prime Minister Liz Truss’ budget plans in late 2022.
Bryden noted that first-time buyers are targeting smaller properties to offset higher borrowing costs, with affordability remaining a significant challenge. Between February 2020 and September 2022, UK house prices increased by 25 per cent, similar to other Western countries during the COVID-19 pandemic, and were 3 per cent below their peak in February.
In April, the average UK house price was £288,949 ($362,284), with the fastest price increases over the past 12 months in Northern Ireland and the most significant falls in eastern England. London prices remained relatively stable.
