UK house prices rise at slowest rate in 9 months Source: Today Online / Business LONDON — Housing price growth in the United Kingdom slowed again in the three months to November, as home values rose by 8.2 per cent compared with the same period last year, the smallest increase since February, mortgage lender Halifax said yesterday. In November alone, prices rose 0.4 per cent, recovering from a 0.4 per cent fall in October, Halifax said. Economists had expected prices to rise by 8 per cent and 0.3 per cent, respectively, a Reuters poll showed. The Bank of England — the central bank — has welcomed signs that Britain’s housing market is cooling off after double-digit price gains earlier this year, restrained in part by new controls on mortgage lending. The annual price gains measured by the Halifax index peaked this year at 10.2 per cent in July. In October, prices were up 8.8 per cent. Price growth is likely to slow further next year as the prospects of higher interest rates and the scale of recent gains discourage prospective buyers, Halifax said. Halifax economists expect prices nationwide to rise in a range of 3 to 5 per cent next year, though a company spokesperson said the forecast had been made before the overhaul of taxes on property purchases announced by Finance Minister George Osborne on Wednesday. Mr Osborne said the changes, which come ahead of a national election in May, would mean that 98 per cent of home buyers who have to pay a stamp duty will see their tax bill reduced. Separate data, published by rival mortgage lender Nationwide last week, showed that the annual rate of increase in British house prices last month fell to its lowest level in nearly a year, rising by 8.5 per cent. -By REUTERS todayonline/business/property/uk-house-prices-rise-slowest-rate-9-months Read More at: https://sites.google/a/dwg.sg/research/home/2014/december-2014/5th-december-2014
Posted on: Mon, 08 Dec 2014 08:55:17 +0000
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