United Kingdom: Housing market remains tepid in November
According to the Nationwide Building Society (NBS), house prices in the United Kingdom increased 0.3% in November compared to the previous month in seasonally adjusted terms, up from October’s flat reading. On an annual basis, house prices rose 1.9%, picking back up from October’s multi-year low of 1.6%. The average house price in November was GBP 214,044 (November 2017: GBP 209,988). Despite the uptick, the housing market is still soft, amid pessimistic consumer sentiment and still-mild real wage gains.
Going forward, house prices are likely to continue to increase at a moderate rate, supported by a gradual recovery in real wages. On the other hand, tighter monetary policy could dampen demand somewhat. The evolution of the EU withdrawal process will be key to the future evolution of prices, as it will likely have a knock-on effect on employment, wages and interest rates.