United Kingdom house price growth slows in July, ONS reveals

“Our own expectation is that the United Kingdom housing market will cool not crash”.

United Kingdom house prices edged higher in August as the property market continued to experience a lackluster recovery following a tax increase and the shock of the Brexit vote, according to Acadata and LSL Property Services Plc.

Property values also increased by £1,000 on average in the last month, continuing a “strong” run of growth, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

Overall, the figures reflect that house price growth is slowing.

Price pressures continued to grow in July the Index states, reflecting the strength of demand relative to supply in the housing market, but “there were indications that some of the heat had been taken out of the market, with several indicators pointing towards weaker housing demand and supply in recent months”.

Yorkshire Building Society Chief Economist Andrew McPhillips expects the slowdown in house price inflation to be short-lived. While the capital is experiencing double digit growth, house prices in areas such as Northern Ireland are growing, but remain around 15-20% lower than they were prior to the 2007 credit crunch. London house prices moved up 12.3 percent. House prices continue to rise annually as more potential buyers saturate the market.

‘People are negotiating hard and we expect that to be reflected in future surveys’.

Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors reported during August, with respondents nationally reported an increase in prices, up from +5% in July.

“This will affect people across all tenures by both limiting the number of people who are able to own their desired home whilst also pushing up the cost of renting”.

‘Our own expectation is that the United Kingdom housing market will cool not crash.

Rob Weaver, director of investments at crowdfunding business Property Partner, said: “The housing market is emerging from its traditional summer slumber, with mounting evidence suggesting that predictions of a post-referendum house price crash were distinctly premature”. While activity lately has been subdued, that imbalance has been maintained.

‘The first led to a flurry of house purchases, stoking up demand and prices in the process, but the second has yet to prove quite so dramatic.

A breakdown of figures show a month-on-month increase of 0.5% for prices in England and a month-on-month fall of 1.8% for property values in Wales.