Yahoo Finance UK house prices rise for first time since March
Average UK house prices have risen in October after six consecutive monthly falls, taking the typical UK property price to £281,974.
Average house prices increased by 1.1% in October, with the price of a typical UK home up around £3,000 on the previous month, according to Halifax.
The increase comes after the Bank of England opted to hold interest rates steady at 5.25% in a boost to mortgage borrowers.
Compared with a year earlier, house prices in October were 3.2% lower versus a 4.5% annual decline in September.
Kim Kinnaird, director at Halifax Mortgages, said: “Prospective sellers appear to be taking a cautious attitude, leading to a low supply of homes for sale.
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“This is likely to have strengthened prices in the short-term, rather than prices being driven by buyer demand, which remains weak overall.
“While many people will have seen their income grow through wage rises, higher interest rates and wider affordability pressures continue to be challenges for buyers.”
Sarah Coles, Yahoo Finance UK columnist and head of personal finance at Hargreaves Lansdown, said: "There’s no real sign of a significant shift in the immediate future. The miserable level of mortgages approved for September is a decent indication the rest of the year will be fairly deathly. It may take a significant shift in mortgage rates before more enthusiasm returns to the market.
"With the Bank of England indicating it’s unlikely to cut rates until around the middle of next year — and even then cuts are likely to be slow and incremental — we may be in for quite a wait. A stronger market might take until 2025 to materialise."
All UK nations and regions saw house prices drop compared to last October. The greatest fall was seen in South East England, where prices fell by 6.0% over the last year, with the average house price now at £374,066.
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Scotland’s annual house price was the most resilient, down just 0.2% annually, with homes in the nation costing an average of £202,608.
It was a similar picture in Northern Ireland, with a decline of 0.5%, and average house prices of £183,922. Property prices in Wales fell by 3.9% over the year, taking the average house price to £213,125.
London continues to have the highest average house price in the UK, at £524,057, falling 4.6% over the last year.
Nathan Emerson CEO at Propertymark, said: “Although we have recently seen interest rates hold steady again at 5.25%, this combined with a stubbornly high rate of inflation, continues to translate into a challenging marketplace."
Watch: House price growth returns in October due to 'constrained supply' of properties
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