Member Article

Biggest house price rise for three years

House prices have undergone the biggest year-on-year increase for three years, say Nationwide building society.

The lender said annual price growth was 3.9% as it released the findings of its mosts recent house price index.

Prices a year ago were falling, and Nationwide explained this was behind the large year-on-year increase.

The typical home is now worth £170,825.

Robert Gardner, Nationwide’s chief economist, said: “UK house prices rose by a robust 0.8% in July, providing further evidence of an upturn in the housing market. The annual rate of house price growth increased to 3.9% in July, though this figure was boosted by the low base for comparison, as prices declined by 2.6% in July 2012.

“House prices are currently around 12% higher than the lows seen in the midst of the financial crisis, though they are still around 10% below the all time highs recorded in late 2007.

“Signs of a modest improvement in wider economic conditions and further modest gains in employment are likely to be lifting buyer sentiment. An improvement in the availability and a reduction in the cost of credit, partly as a result of policy measures such as the Funding for Lending and Help to Buy schemes, are also boosting the demand for homes.

“At the same time, the supply side of the market remains fairly constrained. Building activity is still subdued – in Q1 housing completions in England were down 8% compared to the same period of 2012 and around 40% below the average number of quarterly completions in 2007. The fact that rental growth has been consistently outstripping wage growth reinforces the notion that housing more generally remains in relative short supply.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Tom Keighley .