United Kingdom House Price Growth Fastest In 4 Months

Nationwide also revealed that across the United Kingdom, property values increased by 0.5 per cent in September to reach £195,585 on average, also marking a 3.8 per cent increase on a year ago.

Nationwide’s figures, which are based on mortgages it arranged between July and September, show a marked difference in price growth, and prices, around the country.

London continued to outpace the rest of the country, with annual price growth accelerating to 10.6% in the third quarter of the year.

At £443,399, the average house price in London is more than double that seen across the United Kingdom as a whole, as well as being more than three and a half times the average house price in the North of England, where a home typically costs £124,345.

In the meantime the annual pace of United Kingdom house price growth picked up in September.

It follows similar evidence from the Land Registry earlier this week.

Scotland saw a 1.3% year-on-year fall in house prices, taking them to £140,402 on average.

However, the Land Registry data showed that the biggest annual growth took place in the cheapest parts of the London, suggesting buyers are unable or unwilling to stretch to afford a few areas. However, at an average of £127,562, prices are still 44% below their pre-crisis peak.

Nationwide said: ‘In cash terms, the gap in average prices between the South and the North of England is at a record high, exceeding £150,000 for the first time, with average prices in the South now twice as high as those in the North’.

A few regions saw a slowdown in year-on-year growth, while the North-South divide has become even starker.

House prices continued their upward growth trajectory this month, as a shortage of homes for sale pushed up property values across most of the UK.

Robert Gardner said in the statement.

“The upside for housing market activity and prices is expected to be constrained by more stretched house prices to earnings ratios, tighter checking of prospective mortgage borrowers by lenders and the likelihood that interest rates will start rising gradually before too long”.

According to the survey, 37 per cent more members were expecting prices to continue to increase over the next three months and 76 per cent over the year.

“Given that house prices were soft in the latter months of 2014, this is likely to see annual house price inflation on the Nationwide’s measure move higher over the coming months”, he added.