Report finds annual house price growth at five-year low

Annual house price growth slowed to a five-year low in February, according to an index.

Property values saw a 1.8% annual uplift, the smallest increase since a 1.1% rise in March 2013, Halifax said.

Economists suggested the figures show that a modest rise in mortgage rates in recent months has hit the housing market hard.

Further increases in new mortgage rates are expected in the coming months.

Year-on-year house price growth is now less than half the rate seen just a few months ago.

In November, a 3.9% annual increase was recorded.

House prices increased by 0.4% month-on-month in February, following falls in December and January.

The average UK house price in February was £224,353, down slightly from November’s high of £226,408.

On a quarterly basis, house prices between December and February were 0.7% lower than in the preceding three months – the first decline on the quarterly measure since May last year.

Halifax managing director Russell Galley said: “House prices continue to remain broadly flat, as they have since the end of last year.

“The annual rate of growth has slowed from 2.2% in January to 1.8% in February, the lowest rate of growth since March 2013.”

He continued: “While we expect price growth to remain low, the low mortgage rate environment, combined with an ongoing shortage of properties for sale, should continue to support house prices over the coming months.”

Howard Archer, chief economic adviser at EY ITEM Club, said: “The Halifax data fuel our belief that 2018 will be a difficult year for the housing market and price gains over the year will be limited to a modest two per cent.”

Samuel Tombs, chief UK economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics, said the slowdown in annual house price growth “demonstrates that even the modest rise in mortgage rates over the last few months has hit the market hard”.