UK house prices drop for first time since March
British house prices dropped unexpectedly last month for the first time since March although they finished the year higher than in December 2023, figures from mortgage lender Halifax showed on Tuesday. Halifax, part of Lloyds Banking Group, Br
British house prices dropped unexpectedly last month for the first time since March although they finished the year higher than in December 2023, figures from mortgage lender Halifax showed on Tuesday.
Halifax, part of Lloyds Banking Group, Britain’s biggest mortgage lender, said house prices fell 0.2 per cent in December after a 1.2 per cent rise in November, and were 3.3 per cent higher on the year – lower than the 4.2 per cent rise forecast in a Reuters poll of economists.
Economists had forecast house prices would rise 0.4 per cent in December alone.
While rival mortgage lender Nationwide reported a 0.7 per cent monthly house price rise for December, Bank of England data showed mortgage approvals – a leading indicator for prices – had fallen to their lowest since August in November.
Halifax said house prices in the second half of 2024 had been boosted by falls in mortgage rates, ongoing real wage growth and some buyers seeking to purchase ahead of an increase in property purchase taxes in April 2025.
“Providing employment conditions don’t deteriorate markedly from a more recent softening, buyer demand should hold up relatively well and, taking all this into account, we’re continuing to anticipate modest house price growth this year,” Halifax’s head of mortgages, Amanda Bryden, said.
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