Nationwide reveals fastest house price growth for 17 years

Latest data from the Nationwide House Price Index House has revealed that house prices rose 13.4% on an annual basis in June. This is the biggest growth recorded since November 2004.

Nationwide has revealed month on month growth of 0.7%. This means the average price for a home in the UK is now almost a quarter of a million pounds, at £245,432. This equates to an annual price growth of 10.9% in May.

Summing up the news, Nationwide chief economist Robert Gardner commented that “all parts of the UK saw an acceleration in annual house price growth.” Digging into the detail, Northern Ireland saw the biggest gains, at 14%, closely followed by Wales at 13.4%.

Gardner is confident that in the short term, low borrowing costs and a constraint supply will keep prices rising. That being said, he sounds a word of caution.

“Activity will almost inevitably soften for a period after the stamp duty holiday expires at the end of September, given the strong incentive for people to bring forward their purchases to avoid the additional tax.

“Nevertheless, underlying demand is likely to soften around the turn of the year if unemployment rises as most analysts expect, as government support schemes wind down. But even this is far from assured."

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