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News: UK house prices weaken as winter arrives, say Halifax

Wed, 09 Dec 15

House prices dip as winter settles in the UK, according to the Halifax. The lender’s latest report, one of the most established indicators of the market’s performance, shows that the country’s property values bucked the overall trend by dipping last month.

Values slipped down 0.2 per cent month-on-month, taking the average house price to £204,522. This marked a 9 per cent growth year-on-year, down from October’s 9.7 per cent annual increase. Indeed, even the quarterly figures saw the market slow down, with prices in the three months to November 2015 1.4 per cent higher than the preceding three months (June to August 2015), half of October’s 2.8 per cent quarterly rise and the smallest rise on this measure since December 2014.

The figures herald a change of pace after a year in which sales and prices have begun to rise again, following a period of uncertainty, both political and financial.

"Solid economic growth, rising real earnings and falls in already very low mortgage rates have combined to stimulate housing demand this year," comments Halifax’s Housing Economist, Martin Ellis.

The lack of supply, though, remains a long-term problem, despite the short-term correction.

"The increasingly acute imbalance between supply and demand is causing prices to rise at a robust pace," he adds. "A situation that is unlikely to reverse significantly in the short-term."

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