UK House Prices News:- London experienced the biggest annual house price fall of 2.7 per cent in June, while Wales recorded the highest year-on-year rise of 4.4 per cent.
The Land Registry house price index showed Northern Ireland’s prices at the end of the second quarter, April to June, increasing by 3.5 per cent compared with the same period in 2018.
In England there was a modest monthly rise of 0.7 per cent and a yearly one of 0.9 per cent, the lowest increase since November 2012, taking the average property value to £246,728.
Despite London’s poor year-on-year performance the capital’s prices rose in June by 0.7 per cent compared with May.
Economic forecasters EY ITEM Club predicts house prices rising by 2 per cent in 2020 if the UK leaves the EU with a deal. It added this could be further bolstered if the government decides to cut stamp duty in autumn’s budget. However, if the UK crashes out of the EU on October 31st with no deal prices could drop by 5 per cent.
EY ITEM Club chief economic advisor, Howard Archer, said the housing market had been supported by a shortage of properties and low interest rates but warned this could change.
“It looks questionable whether the labour market and earnings growth will sustain their recent strength over the coming months as companies are faced by a soft economy, domestic political and Brexit uncertainties and a challenging global environment.”
Mortgage approvals hit five-month high
Brokers Hank Zarihs Associates said the housing market was proving resilient evidenced by Bank of England mortgage approval figures of 66,000 in June – their highest level since January. The brokerage said property development lenders were still offering competitive construction loans and short-term bridging finance for the right projects.
The East Midlands recorded the highest annual rise of 3.2 per cent while the North East showed the best monthly rise of 1.7 per cent. The South West revealed the most significant monthly drop of 0.4 per cent in prices.
Monthly house prices in Wales rose by 1.2 per cent taking the average property value to £163,768.
Scottish house prices continued to out-perform the UK average with year-on-year increases of 1.3 per cent bringing the average house price to £151,891. House prices in Scotland rose by 0.7 per cent between May 2019 and June 2019.
UK property transaction statistics for June 2019 showed a year-on-year drop of 16.5 per cent with just 84,490 sales. Between May 2019 and June 2019, transactions on residential properties decreased by 9.7 per cent. But Scotland showed a rise with 7,812 transactions for April 2019 revealing a 6 per cent increase on the same month in 2018.