The Nationwide House Price Index for August has been released which shows prices have risen by 0.8% each month after taking seasonal effects into account, showing the 13th consecutive monthly increase.
Average house prices have also shown to have risen by almost £50,000 in two years having been £224,123 in August 2020 to now being £273,751. This is also an increase of £2,542 on July.
In addition to this, it is the tenth consecutive month the HPI has remained in double figures following on from previous figures shown in the July Nationwide HPI.
Despite this, the HPI has been released showing a continued slowdown in growth. The Annual UK house price growth has reduced to 10% in August, having previously been 11% in July.
Nationwide’s Chief Economist, Robert Gardner, said of the HPI:
“There are signs that the housing market is losing some momentum, with surveyors reporting fewer new buyer enquiries in recent months and the number of mortgage approvals for house purchases falling below pre-pandemic levels. However, the slowdown to date has been modest, and combined with a shortage of stock on the market, has meant that price growth has remained firm.
We expect the market to slow further as pressure on household budgets intensifies in the coming quarters, with inflation set remain in double digits into next year. Moreover, the Bank of England is widely expected to continue raising interest rates, which will also exert a cooling impact on the market if this feeds through to mortgage rates, which have already increased noticeably in recent months.”
Stephen McCarron, President of NAEA Propertymark, the trade body for estate agents, also commented on the HPI:
“The market is continuing to soften but there is a long way to go yet before a significant change to prices because there are still more buyers than sellers.
Our latest Housing Market Report shows the largest proportion of sales are being agreed at asking price.
The shift away from the auction scenario of the past two years is because of mortgage rate rises and wider cost-of-living pressures. They are beginning to feed into buyer sentiment and creating some hesitancy, particularly among first-time buyers who are more likely to come out the market to wait to see what it does over the next year or so.”
