House prices up 1.6% in August

August saw a 1.6% monthly gain for UK house prices, with values increasing for the fourth consecutive month, Nationwide has reported.
The building society’s index puts the average price of a property at £160,224, up from £158,871 in July, with the rise slowing the annual rate of decline to an almost acceptable 2.7%, compared with 6.2% in July.
The three-month on three-month measure now shows a 3.3% rise in August, up from 2.7% in July.
Nationwide’s chief economist, Martin Gahbauer, attributes the improvement to “exceptionally low” interest rates.
He comments: “The fall in debt serving costs has meant that fewer homeowners are under immediate financial pressure to sell than might have been expected in a recessionary economic background with rising unemployment.”
As a result, the balance of supply and demand has shifted in favour of vendors.
However, interest rate rises are inevitable at some point and Mr Gahbauer cautions: “The eventual exit from exceptionally loose monetary policy could make the recovery in the housing market bumpier than some might expect after the last few months of price increases.”
Visited 1381 times, 1 so far today
Comments (0)
Trackback URL | Comments RSS Feed
There are no comments yet. Why not be the first to speak your mind.