Halifax: UK house prices fall in May
Latest index shows a drop in house prices for first time since February.
UK house prices fell by 0.1% between April and May, according to the latest Halifax House Price Index.
It’s the first monthly fall since February and follows a 1.6% jump between March and April.
On a quarterly basis, house price growth for the three months to May faltered too, sinking to 2% - its lowest since January.
However, annual house price growth showed slight improvement, rising from 8.5% in April to 8.6% in May, though this is well below the July 2014 peak of 10.2%.
Halifax says the average cost of a home in the UK is now £196,067.
It's worth noting that Halifax's index is in stark contrast to that from Nationwide, which suggested house prices jumped 0.3% in May. For more read Nationwide: house price growth slows in May.
House price growth
Here’s how house prices have changed over the last 12 months according to the Halifax House Price Index.
|
Month/year |
Average house price |
Monthly change |
Quarterly change |
Annual change |
|
May 2014 |
£184,448 |
4% |
1.8% |
8.7% |
|
June 2014 |
£183,825 |
-0.4% |
2.3% |
8.8% |
|
July 2014 |
£186,073 |
1.2% |
3.5% |
10.2% |
|
August 2014 |
£186,101 |
0% |
2.9% |
9.7% |
|
September 2014 |
£186,898 |
0.4% |
2.7% |
9.6% |
|
October 2014 |
£186,223 |
-0.4% |
0.9% |
8.8% |
|
November 2014 |
£187,197 |
0.5% |
0.8% |
8.1% |
|
December 2014 |
£189,304 |
1.1% |
0.3% |
7.8% |
|
January 2015 |
£192,954 |
1.9% |
1.8% |
8.5% |
|
February 2015 |
£192,182 |
-0.3% |
2.6% |
8.3% |
|
March 2015 |
£192,328 |
0.4% |
2.6% |
8.1% |
|
April 2015 |
£196,355 |
1.6% |
2.2% |
8.5% |
|
May 2015 |
£196,067 |
-0.1% |
2% |
8.6% |
Source: Halifax
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What’s going on with house prices?
Halifax said the economic recovery, rising employment, earnings growth and rock bottom mortgage rates are all boosting housing demand.
However, housing supply remains extremely tight with stock at its lowest level for years.
The bank warned this imbalance between supply and demand is likely to continue to push up house prices over the coming months.
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