Date issued: 27 Sep 2007
HOUSE PRICES APPEAR TO SHRUG OFF CREDIT CRUNCH IN SEPTEMBER
- House prices defied gloomy expectations and showed another gain in September
- But the trend growth of house prices is now the lowest since July 2006
- Credit conditions are now clearly tightening for leveraged borrowers
- The interest rate outlook has shifted from hawkish to dovish, which could provide some welcome relief to homeowners next year
| Headlines |
September 2007 |
August 2007 |
| Monthly index * Q1 '93 = 100 |
368.3 |
365.8 |
| Monthly change* |
0.7% |
0.6% |
| Annual change |
9.0% |
9.6% |
| Average price |
£184,723 |
£183,898 |
* seasonally adjusted
Commenting on the figures Fionnuala Earley, Nationwide's Chief Economist, said:
“House prices recorded a reasonably strong gain of 0.7% between August and September, seemingly shrugging off the unsettled events of the past month. Despite this increase, the 12-month rate of house price inflation came down from 9.6% in August to 9.0%, as we are now entering a period during which house prices gains were particularly strong in 2006. This brought the average price of a typical UK property to £184,723. The 3-month on 3-month rate of price growth – often the smoothest indicator of underlying momentum – slowed from 2.0% to 1.6%, the lowest level since July 2006. Overall, house prices defied the gloomy predictions of some recent headlines, but their underlying growth is still on a decelerating trend."
For further information please see this month's full report (PDF - 52KB)
