Date issued: 31 Oct 2007
HOUSE PRICES REMAIN STUBBORNLY ROBUST DESPITE WEAKENING DEMAND
- House prices rose strongly in October, but underlying market activity is clearly slowing
- Although demand is weakening, existing homeowners appear in no rush to sell
- New buy-to-let landlords will need a long investment horizon to realise good returns
| Headlines |
October 2007 |
September 2007 |
| Monthly index * Q1 '93 = 100 |
372.7 |
368.7 |
| Monthly change* |
1.1 |
0.7% |
| Annual change |
9.7% |
9.0% |
| Average price |
£186,044 |
£184,723 |
* seasonally adjusted
Commenting on the figures Fionnuala Earley, Nationwide's Chief Economist, said:
“House prices recorded a surprisingly strong increase of 1.1% in October, tying it with June for the highest month-on-month growth rate so far in 2007. The average price of a typical UK property was £186,044 in October, £16,421 more than the same month last year. The annual rate of price growth picked up from 9.0% in September to 9.7%, but this is still down from a peak of 11.1% in June and was partly driven by base effects. The rise in the annual rate temporarily breaks the slowing in price growth we have seen since June, but is unlikely to mark the start of a new upward trend. November and December saw particularly robust gains in 2006, and unless prices perform very strongly for the rest of this year, the annual rate of price growth will resume a downward path. The 3-month on 3-month rate of price growth – which helps smooth monthly volatility – edged up only modestly from 1.7% to 1.9%, which is still below the average of 2.2% seen so far in 2007."
For further information please see this month's full report (PDF - 55KB)
NATIONWIDE LAUNCHES NEW ‘IN THE KNOW’ INTERNET SITE
Nationwide Building Society has launched a new section on its internet site called ‘In the Know’. In the Know’ has been developed to provide our customers with independent information and advice about popular everyday issues. The site content will incorporate up to date information on a wide range of topics such as tips on improving the value of your home, house hunting, property development, environmentally friendly ways to save and everything you need to know about managing your finances.
For further information please visit www.nationwide.co.uk/intheknow
