Rolling coverage of the latest economic and financial news, as UK house prices record biggest fall since 2009 on an annual basis
Economic forecasters at the EY ITEM Club predict that UK house prices will “continue drifting down”.
They point out that UK interest rates look to have peaked much lower than many had expected only a few months ago, after the Bank of England left rates on hold in September.
“The Halifax measure of house prices continued its downward trend by falling 0.4% month-on-month in September. This was the sixth consecutive monthly decline and left prices 4.7% lower than a year earlier and 5.1% down on the peak in the Halifax measure in June 2022. That said, September’s fall was less marked than a 1.8% decline in August.
“With the Nationwide measure flatlining in September, the latest house price data points to a market gently deflating, not crashing. And the EY ITEM Club thinks that will likely characterise the housing market over the rest of this year and into 2024.
These figures, though historically reliable, look at mortgage approvals rather than completions, while the country’s largest lender doesn’t include cash purchasers either, which make up an increasingly important part of the market.
