United Kingdom: House price growth rises to fresh multi-year high in November
According to the Nationwide Building Society (NBS), house prices in the United Kingdom rose 0.9% month-on-month in November, following October’s 0.8% rise. On an annual basis, house prices were up 6.5%, the fastest growth since January 2015 (October: +5.8% year-on-year). The average house price in November was GBP 229,721.
Strong housing market dynamics in recent months have likely been driven by Covid-19-induced behavioral shifts (people looking to move to properties with more space due to home working for example) and the stamp duty holiday. These same factors could continue to prop up the market in the near term. That said, Robert Gardner, chief economist at Nationwide, once again cautioned that the positive picture may not last:
“Housing market activity is likely to slow in the coming quarters, perhaps sharply, if the labour market weakens as most analysts expect, especially once the stamp duty holiday expires at the end of March.”