The latest House Price Index released by Halifax this morning revealed that in February, UK house prices increased for the fourth consecutive month.
Monthly house price change rose by 0.4%, meanwhile when looking at annual change, house prices were 1.7% higher than they were a year ago with the average UK house price sitting at £291,699 in February.
Despite the slight uptick in the average UK house price, the outlook for the market remains positive as the Bank of England reported an increase in mortgage approvals in the latest Money & Credit data released last month.
Commenting on the latest Halifax House Price Index, Jason Tebb, President of OnTheMarket, says:
“Normal service appears to have been resumed as far as the housing market is concerned with better mortgage rates since the start of the year boosting buyer and seller confidence.
While prices are edging upwards, sellers may assume that buyers are prepared to pay more but stretched affordability remains an issue for many and with some lenders pricing their mortgages upwards again, borrowers are going to have to get used to paying more than the rock-bottom pricing of the past few years.
An increase in enquiries, pick-up in stock levels and expectations that interest rates will start falling at some point this year, are all helping improve activity. It’s a shame the Chancellor didn’t offer some assistance with measures in his Budget to encourage transactions as this would have been good not only for the housing market but the wider economy.”
