UK house prices rose 5.2% in the three months to May 2019, according to data released by Halifax.
This increase occurred at the fastest annual rate since early 2017.
House prices in the three months to May rose 5.2% compared to the same month last year. However, the country’s largest mortgage lender added that the annual change in May comes on the back of particularly low growth rates for the same period in 2018, which has impacted year-on-year comparisons.
Home prices rose 2.5% in the latest quarter compared to the previous three months. Similarly, on a monthly basis, house prices rose by 0.5%.
“While house prices rose slightly in April and May, the overall message is one of stability.Despite continued political and economic uncertainty, overall economic fundamentals remain strong. Commenting on the data, Halifax Managing Director Russell Galley said:
Indeed, January figures from Halfiax revealed that UK house prices have fallen by 2.9%, with buyers deterred by the prevailing Brexit-related uncertainty. It was thought that there was a possibility that
2019 also started with Office for National Statistics data revealing that house prices in London fell by 1.2% month-on-month, particularly in November.
“This is supported by industry-wide statistics which suggest there has been no real month-on-month change in the number of house sales. Meanwhile, Bank of England data shows that mortgage approvals rose by almost 6% in April. %, reversing the soft situation seen in the previous month’ last month,’ the managing director continued.
“Looking ahead, we expect the current stable trend of high employment and low interest rates to continue in the coming months, but it is clear that the overall economic weakness will be felt more strongly in the housing market.”
According to Halifax data, the average price of a home in the same period reached £237,837.
