Recently, Halifax published their monthly house price index showing little change in the continuity of the UK’s house price growth.
Prices for homes in the UK in the three months to July were 8.4% higher than in the same three months of 2015, the latest house price index revealed.
On top of that, house prices in the last three months (May-July) were also 1.6% higher than in the three months prior to that, the Halifax report revealed.
Halifax housing economist, Martin Ellis, said: “House prices in the three months to July were 1.6% higher than in the previous quarter; up from 1.1% in June but comfortably lower than earlier in the year. The annual rate of growth was unchanged at 8.4%; the lowest since July 2015.
“There are signs that house price growth is slowing with a deceleration in both the annual and quarterly rates of increase in the past few months. Nonetheless, the current rates remain robust.
“July’s monthly decline largely offsets June’s increase. The month-on-month changes, however, can be erratic and falls often occur within an upward trend. Overall, it remains too early to determine if there has been any impact on the housing market as a result of June’s EU referendum result.”
The report’s key take-aways are:
- House prices in the three months to July were 1.6% higher than in the preceding three months (February-April).
- Prices in the three months to July were 8.4% higher than in the same three months a year earlier. This annual rate was unchanged from June, at the lowest since July 2015 (7.8%).
- House prices declined by 1.0% between June and July. However, this doesn’t reliably manifest any change, as drops in prices month-on-month are fairly common.
- The number of first time buyers (FTBs) increased by an estimated 10% in the first six months of 2016 compared with the same period in 2015, according to the latest Halifax First Time Buyer Review.
