Prices up for the first time in eight months

Prices up for the first time in eight months

• Annual price growth continues to slow but there are monthly price rises again
• The South East and the North East report annual falls
• East and West Midlands top the growth table

House prices rebounded in October, up 0.4% – the first increase since February. The annual rate of price increases continued to slow, however, dropping to just 1.0%.

Despite this, most regions continue to show growth, the exceptions being both the South East and North East, which show modest falls on an annual basis. The average price of a home in England and Wales is now £304,433, up from £301,367 last October.

With overall annual price growth well below the rate of inflation of 2.2% (as of September), house prices in England and Wales are seeing real term falls in most regions, and are now growing at their slowest rate in over six years, since April 2012. The West Midlands and East Midlands are bucking the trend, however, with a growth of 3.1% and 2.8% respectively.

All regions have seen annual house price growth reduce in the last month, with the slowdown most pronounced in the North East, dropping by 1.7% to -0.2%, and in London and Wales, with growth slowing from 3.0% to 1.8% in both cases.

In other respects, fundamentals are favourable to house price growth: interest rates remain low, mortgage supply is good, the number of people in work is high, and average weekly earnings are up 2.4% annually. Estimated sales for October 2018 were 6% down on the same month in 2017, but 2% higher than October 2016.

Click here to read the House Price Index – October 2018 (England and Wales)

Data source: LSL Property Services