29/05/2009

UK House Prices Rise In May

UK house prices increased by 1.2% in May, according to a report by Nationwide.

However, the average price of a house is still 11.3% lower than last year (£154,016), although this marks a significant improvement from the annual decline of 15.0% recorded in April.

Commenting on the figures Martin Gahbauer, Nationwide's Chief Economist, said: "Although the short-term trend in house prices has clearly improved from where it was at the beginning of the year, it is still too early to say that the market is turning definitively. "During the downturn of the early 1990s, there were many months during which prices rose, only to fall back down again in subsequent periods. In the current downturn, the combination of rapidly rising unemployment and tight access to credit implies that the last of the price declines has probably not been seen yet.

"Nonetheless, the improvement in house price trends is consistent with signs of stabilisation in several other economic indicators and suggests that any further price declines may occur at a less rapid pace than in 2008."

(CD/JM)

Related UK National News Stories
Click here for the latest headlines.

07 September 2005
Halifax reports house prices rise
House prices rose by 1.6% in August, the UK’s biggest mortgage lender, has reported. However, the Halifax warned that the rise could be temporary, boosted by the recent interest rates cuts by the Bank of England. The price rise in August followed a modest 0.4% increase in July and was the biggest monthly rise since September 2004.
29 February 2008
January House Prices Show Slight Increase
House prices in England and Wales increased by just 0.9% in January, according to the latest monthly figures from Land Registry. The increase takes the average house price to £186,045. However, the data shows a decline in annual house price changes, from 6.7% last month to 6.4% this month. London experienced annual price growth of 13.
13 August 2007
House Prices Rise By 12% In June
UK annual house price inflation in June 2007 was 12.1%, up from 10.8% in May 2007. Annual house price inflation in London was 17.5% in June, up from 14.3% in May. The UK annual house price inflation rate for the 3 months to June was 11.3% and 15.1% in London. The UK house price inflation rate rose from 10.8% in May 2007 to 12.1% in June 2007.
12 December 2005
House price inflation drops
Annual house price inflation dropped again in October, according to the latest figures from the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister. House price inflation was 2.2% in October, a fall from September’s figure of 3.3%. The ODPM reported that the average house price in the UK was £186,103 in October, compared with £186,755 in September.
12 April 2005
UK house prices fall, report shows
UK house prices fell by 0.5% between January and February, figures from the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (ODPM) have shown. The drop in prices, which saw the average house price in the UK in February fall to £179,491 from £180,465 in January, is smaller than the 1% fall reported in the same period last year.