Bridging Loans News:- UK annual house prices rose by just 0.2 percent in September, the tenth consecutive month of increases below 1 percent, according to Nationwide’s index.
There was a fall in growth in September, compared with August, of 0.2 percent bringing the average UK house price to £215,352.
Annual house price declines persisted in London and the South East with falls of 1.7 percent and 1.5 percent respectively, for the third quarter – July to September.
Nationwide’s chief economist, Robert Gardner, said the underlying pace of growth appeared to have slowed due to weaker global growth and Brexit uncertainty. But said household spending had been more resilient, supported by steady gains in employment and real earnings.
“The underlying pace of housing market activity has remained broadly stable, with the number of mortgages approved for house purchase continuing within the fairly narrow range prevailing over the past two years. Healthy labour market conditions and low borrowing costs appear to be offsetting the drag from the uncertain economic outlook,” he said.
Northern Ireland remained the strongest performer in the third quarter, although annual price growth moderated to 3.4 percent compared with 5.2 percent in the second quarter.
Wales also saw a slowdown of growth of 2.9 percent, compared with 4.2 percent for the second quarter. Annual price growth in Scotland remained subdued at 0.8 percent for the third quarter – up slightly from 0.4 percent in the previous quarter
England remained the weakest performer, with prices essentially flat compared with a year ago.
The bigger picture shows house prices in the capital have held up
London’s house price drop of 1.7 percent marks the ninth quarter in a row where prices have fallen. However, Mr. Gardener said they were only about 5 percent below all-time highs recorded in the first quarter of 2017 and 50 percent above 2007’s buoyant levels. UK prices are only 17 percent higher than the 2007 peak.
Bridging Loans by HZA
Brokers Hank Zarihs Associates said development finance lenders remained keen to offer construction loans and development and refurbishment finance for schemes in the South East.
House price growth in the North, North West, Yorkshire, and Humberside, East Midlands and West Midlands slowed to 1.4 percent but remained ahead of the South. London, Outer Metropolitan, Outer South East and East Anglia all experienced a 0.8 percent fall in the third quarter.
“These trends are not entirely unexpected, however, as affordability is still more stretched in the South, with prices further above their pre-financial crisis levels,” said Mr. Gardner.