House price growth at its lowest to date

More news on the UK housing front as annual house price growth slows down for the third month to December last year. According to the ONS the average property price hit £272,000 in December up 9.8% from the same month in the previous year The annual rate of house price inflation has slowed every month since the 12.1 per cent growth which was recorded in September. It dropped to 10.4 % in October then fell again to 9.9 % in November 2014. Property prices in England rose the fastest in December – They were up to 10.2 % on the same month the previous year. Prices rose on average by £26,000 per annum. It was Wales with the slowest increase; prices there rose by just 4% from £166,000 in December 2013 to £173,000 in December 2014. Talking to Reuters Chief Economist of Nationwide Robert Gardner said: “If the economic backdrop continues to improve as we and most forecasters expect, activity in the housing market is likely to regain momentum in the months ahead,” He said the slowdown reflected a 20 percent fall in mortgage approvals since the start of 2014 and according to surveyors, it also reflected a slow down in property viewings and demand. He also said that prices were likely to be supported by the lack of short-term new build properties available, which although are up 8% are still 34% below per-crisis levels.

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