House Price Growth Finally Plateaus After Years Of Soaring
The escalating house price growth has finally cooled down, with property prices having remained the same over the last month.
The latest UK House Price Index from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) showed the average cost of a property in the UK was £294,559 in September 2022.
Despite this being 9.5 per cent higher than the value last September, prices remained unchanged from August.
The report stated: “Average UK house prices increased by a smaller amount between July and September 2022 than the same period last year. This base effect has led to the slowing of annual percentage change since July 2022.”
House prices rose by £3,200 from July to August, but did not increase the following month.
This is a huge difference from the previous year when they surged by £7,500 in July and £8,600 in August 2021.
Indeed, the annual house price growth has fallen from a high of 15.2 per cent in the year leading to July 2022 to 9.5 per cent, suggesting demand for homes for sale has dropped, as a result of mortgage rate increases and the cost-of-living crisis.
Kim Kinnaird, director of Halifax Mortgages, said: “The rising cost of living coupled with already stretched mortgage availability is expected to continue to weigh on activity levels.”
She added that the mini-Budget shocked the housing market, causing a “sudden acceleration in mortgage rate increases”. This led to growing consumer caution, and declining mortgage approvals, as more buyers worried about overstretching their finances.
House prices subsequently dropped to attract more homebuyers, as demand fell.
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