UK Halifax House Prices Rise For Second Month

(RTTNews) - UK house prices increased for the second successive month in November largely reflecting shortage of properties, results of a survey by the Lloyds Bank subsidiary Halifax and S&P Global showed Thursday.

House prices grew 0.5 percent in November from October, when they rose 1.2 percent. The pace of growth also exceeded forecast of 0.3 percent. Compared to last year, house prices decreased only 1.0 percent, following a 3.1 percent fall in October.

Despite the wider economic headwinds, property prices held up better than expected, Halifax Mortgages Director Kim Kinnaird said.

House prices showed resilience during this year underpinned by a shortage of properties coming to the market rather than any significant strengthening of buyer demand, Kinnaird noted.

However, there was a slight uptick in activity levels as a result of an improving picture on affordability for homebuyers, Halifax director said.

With the easing of mortgage rates, they may lead to push up buyer confidence.

"However, the economic conditions remain uncertain, making it hard to assess the extent to which market activity will be maintained," Kinnaird said.

Data showed that Northern Ireland was the strongest performing region in the UK, with house prices climbing 2.3 percent on an annual basis.

London retained the top spot for the highest average house price in the UK, at GBP 524,592.

Market expectations that the interest rate has peaked and the next move from the Bank of England will be a rate cut in the next year helped to ease pressure on mortgage rates.

The BoE had kept its key interest rate unchanged at 5.25 percent at November and September meetings, snapping a streak of 14 consecutive rate hikes.

The rate was lifted by a cumulative 515 basis points since December 2021.