Uncertainty putting house sales on hold

HOUSE PRICES edged up by 2.8 per cent in the year to November according to official figures, as sales are put on hold while uncertainty over Brexit continues.

Across the UK, the average house price stood at £231,000 in November 2018, figures released jointly by the Office for National Statistics (ONS), Land Registry and other bodies show.

Average house prices across the UK fell by 0.1 per cent between October and November.

In England, annual house price growth is being driven by the Midlands as London property values continue to fall back.

ONS head of inflation Mike Hardie said: “House price growth was little changed in the year to November with buoyant growth across much of the UK held back by London and the South-East.”

Over the past two years, there has been a general slowdown in UK house price growth, driven mainly by a slowdown in the South and East of England.

The study said a recent Bank of England report said that that along with low supply of houses, demand was also falling.

Housing activity in southern England was muted due to uncertainty, with transactions postponed until after the European Union withdrawal, it said.

With house prices standing at £132,000 on average, the North-East of England is the only English region where house prices are yet to surpass the peak they reached before the economic downturn.