2nd Dec 2024 07:48
(Alliance News) - UK house price growth accelerated markedly last month, numbers from mortgage lender Nationwide showed on Monday.
House prices surged 3.7% on-year in November, the fastest pace of annual growth in two years, picking up speed from a 2.4% rise in October.
Prices rose 1.2% in November from October. They had edged up 0.1% in October from September.
The average UK house price now sits at GBP268,144, according to Nationwide.
"The acceleration in house price growth is surprising, since affordability remains stretched by historic standards, with house prices still high relative to average incomes and interest rates well above pre-Covid levels," Nationwide analyst Robert Gardner commented. "The pickup in price growth is unlikely to have been driven by upcoming stamp duty changes, since the majority of mortgage applications commenced before the budget announcement. Housing market activity has remained relatively resilient in recent months, with the number of mortgage approvals approaching the levels seen pre-pandemic, despite the higher interest rate environment."
From the end of March, the temporary increase in the nil rate stamp duty thresholds will end. For first-time buyers of a home under GBP500,000, the nil rate band falls to GBP300,000 from GBP425,000 currently. For other home buyers, the nil rate band threshold is to decline to GBP125,000, from GBP250,000.
The measures were announced by Chancellor Rachel Reeves in the October autumn budget.
By Eric Cunha, Alliance News news editor
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