Already out this morning from my colleague Pedro Goncalves:
UK house prices rose at the fastest pace since December 2022 and are set to climb even higher if the Bank of England cuts interest rates again before the end of the year, as widely expected by markets.
Annual growth rate picked up to 2.4%, from 2.1% in July, Nationwide said. However, on a monthly basis its figures showed a 0.2% dip in prices, which it said was a result of “seasonal factors”. That meant the average price of a UK home was £265,375, some £950 lower than the previous month.
Values were still around 3% lower than the record highs recorded in the summer of 2022, at the end of the pandemic property boom.
Nationwide’s chief economist Robert Gardner said the housing market remained subdued but was coping with the increase in interest rates.
“While house price growth and activity remain subdued by historic standards, they nevertheless present a picture of resilience in the context of the higher interest rate environment and where house prices remain high relative to average earnings (which makes raising a deposit more challenging),” he said.