House prices dip as stamp duty holiday ends
By Abigail Townsend
Date: Wednesday 15 Dec 2021
(Sharecast News) - UK house prices eased in October, official data showed on Wednesday, after the stamp duty holiday came to an end.
According to the Office for National Statistics, average house prices decreased by 1.1% month-on-month in October. On a seasonally-adjusted basis, prices dropped by 1.0%.
On an annual basis, house prices increased 10.2% in the year to October 2021, down on the 12.3% growth recorded in September.
The average price of a property in the UK is now £268,349.
Samuel Tombs, chief UK economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics, said: "House prices unsurprisingly fell back in October, as the threshold for stamp duty land tax returned to £125,000 from £250,000 at the start of the month.
"Timelier indicators suggest that October's drop in the official index is just a blip. For instance, Nationwide's house price index rose by 0.9% month-to-month in November."
However, Tombs added: "Looking ahead, we continue to expect higher mortgage rates and the squeeze on households' real disposal incomes from rising inflation and taxes to subdue the housing market in the first half of next year.
"House prices typically have struggled when CPI inflation has been high, and the sub-par level of consumers' confidence suggests many households will hold back from committing to an onerous schedule of mortgage repayments."
The weakest growth was seen in London in October, the ONS said, where prices increased by 6.2% on an annual basis. Wales saw the strongest growth, with prices ahead 15.5%.
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