The UK house price index August 2016
Commenting on the UK house price index, Andy Knee, chief executive of LMS, said:
“The growth of average house prices underlines that, in spite of the economic and political turbulence of the summer, confidence in the UK housing market remains strong. Price rises in August are driven by the East of England, South East and London but it is reassuring – especially in such uncertain times – to see growth across the country: each region has witnessed house prices rise year-on-year by a minimum of 3%.
“Despite this growth, there is cause for concern that some areas of the housing market, may be slowing. The RICs market survey showed that enquiries from first time buyers have fallen by 15% between June and August, perhaps a consequence of first time buyer hesitancy surrounding the result of June’s referendum, or that they are simply being priced out of the market. This isn’t helped by the record-low mortgage offers available to second steppers, which appeared on the market in the wake of the Bank of England’s base rate interest cut, and will contribute to demand.
“The outlook for first time buyers will worsen unless demand is met and more houses are built, something that doesn’t look set to happen any time soon: new-build housing output fell by 0.8% in July and is likely to be hampered by Brexit uncertainty.”
