Tag: Nationwide Building Society

Posted on

UK house prices 1.8% lower in 2023, says Nationwide

House prices down in 2023 says Nationwide

House prices have ended the year 1.8% lower in the UK, according to Nationwide Building Society

The Nationwide forecasts no growth or a further fall in 2024.

The lender said the average house price across the UK was £257,443 in December 2023. This was flat compared to November 2023 but down compared to December 2022.

The lender reportedly said that consumer confidence ‘remains weak’, despite some mortgage rates falling in anticipation for Bank of England (BoE) to cut borrowing costs in the months ahead.

The number of housing transactions has been running at around 10% below pre-Covid levels, Nationwide reported. The fall was more pronounced for those buying a house using a mortgage – down 20% compared to before the pandemic.

However, the volume of cash deals continues to run above the levels recorded before Covid hit.

Posted on

UK house prices experience biggest rise in over a year

UK house prices up

House prices had the biggest monthly rise in October for more than a year, according to the Nationwide Building Society.

However, they were still down sharply on a year ago, the UK’s biggest building society noted. The rise in prices was most likely due to there not being enough properties to meet demand.

However, activity in the housing market is still extremely slow, as buyers struggle with higher mortgage rates.

Interest rates, which underpin mortgage pricing, have moderated recently but they are still well above the lows of 2021. The Bank of England has raised interest rates from lows of around 0.1% to 5.25% in its inflation battle.

UK inflation is over 6.5% – the target is 2%.