16 November 2022
If you are covering the UK house price index, please see the following comment from Karen Noye, mortgage expert at Quilter:
"New house price statistics out this morning show that double digit house price growth is no longer a reality. UK average house prices increased by 9.5% over the year to September 2022, down from 13.1% in August 2022. House prices in fact remained unchanged from August to September, which has played a part in causing the annual percentage change to slow.
"These statistics will only also account for a small period of the disruption to the mortgage market following Truss and Kwarteng’s disastrous mini budget which was delivered on the 23rd of September. Other house price indices show that this event caused a drop in house prices.
"It is no surprise that the housing market is stalling considering the magnitude of difficulties facing people’s finances as we head into winter. As the autumn has so far been mild, the true cost of the energy price hikes have not been felt in full force and along with the increases in interest rates pushing up some people’s mortgage payments it is set to be a difficult time for many.
"Just this morning, inflation has been recorded at 11.1%, which is the highest for over 40 years and the housing market is not immune to these market forces. As people start to struggle with their everyday bills, they will either think about moving to a smaller house, which is cheaper to live in or opt to stay put and ride out this period of inflation and high interest rates. This means stock builds up in the market while there is a dearth of demand. Ultimately, this will push house prices lower. Some lenders are predicting a 10% house price drop over the next few months and these statistics are likely just the start of this shift."
