UK house price growth steady in November, misses expectations - Nationwide
Annual UK house price growth was stable in November, according to the latest survey from Nationwide.
House prices grew by 2.5% this month, unchanged from November last year and missing expectations for a 2.7% increase.
On the month, prices were 0.1% higher, down from a 0.2% rise in October and below expectations for it to remain unchanged.
Nationwide's chief economist, Robert Gardner, said annual growth remains within the 2-4% range that has prevailed since March.
"Low mortgage rates and healthy rates of employment growth are providing support for demand, but this is being partly offset by pressure on household incomes, which appears to be weighing on confidence. The lack of homes on the market is providing support to house prices.
“The decision in the Budget to abolish stamp duty for first time buyers purchasing a property up to £300,000 (with relief for those purchasing a property up to £500,000) is likely to have only a modest impact on overall demand. In many regions, first time buyers already paid little or no stamp duty as the price of the typical first time buyer property was below the previous threshold of £125,000."
Samuel Tombs, chief UK economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics, said: "House prices lost their upward momentum in November as rising mortgage rates began to depress demand and affordability. Fixed-rate mortgage rates picked up in October in anticipation that the MPC would hike Bank Rate earlier this month. The full impact of the rate hike on the market won’t fully materialise for a couple of months, but several indicators already point to a further slowdown.
"Rightmove has reported that online asking prices rose just 1.8% year-over-year in November, well below the 2.3% average of the first ten months of the year. Both the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors and the National Association of Estate Agents reported sharp falls in new buyer interest in October that are consistent with prices falling slightly over the next three months."