UK house prices nudge higher
By Abigail Townsend
Date: Wednesday 21 Jun 2023
(Sharecast News) - UK house prices edged higher in April, official data showed on Wednesday, the first month-on-month increase since November.
The Office for National Statistics' house price index rose by 0.5% month-on-month in April, or by 0.4% on a seasonally-adjusted basis.
However, growth slowed on an annual basis, with average UK house prices rising 3.5% in the 12 months to April, down from March's 4.1%.
The UK's average house price was £286,000, up £9,000 on the same month a year previously but £7,000 below September's peak.
The north east saw the highest annual percentage change of all English regions in April, with an annual rise of 5.5%, while London saw the lowest increase, at 2.4%.
Gabriella Dickens, senior UK economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics, said: "The downturn in house prices paused in April, but the renewed surge in mortgage rates over the past month or so suggests this will prove to be a false down.
"Potential buyers in all regions look set to come under additional pressures from rising mortgage rates this summer: timely measures already suggest house prices fell again in May and June.
"The recent rise in markets' expectations for bank rate means the recent increase in mortgage rates has further to go. The impact of surging mortgage rates will offset any boost to real incomes from the drop in energy bills in the second half of this year.
"We remain comfortable with our forecast for a peak-to-trough fall in the official measure of house prices of about 8%."
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