House prices grow by 10% in 12 months

ANNUAL house price growth hit 10 per cent in November, according to the Nationwide Building Society.

The increase marked a rise from 9.9 per cent in October.

Prices rose by 0.9 per cent month on month, taking the average UK property value to £252,687.

Robert Gardner, Nationwide’s chief economist, said: “Prices are almost 15 per cent above the level in March last year when the pandemic struck.

Crisis

“Activity has been extremely buoyant in 2021. The number of housing transactions has already exceeded the number recorded in 2020, and is close to the number seen at the same stage in 2007, before the global financial crisis struck.

“Moreover, the number of mortgages approved for house purchases in October was still running above the 2019 monthly average. If this is maintained, market conditions may remain fairly buoyant in the coming months.” But he admitted: “It is unclear what impact the new Omicron variant will have on the wider economy.”

And he said: “Rising interest rates may exert a cooling influence on the market.”

Alex Lyle, of Richmond estate agency Antony Roberts said: “The tax break, introduced by the Chancellor in July 2020 to boost the property market, has done just that.

“There were fears that the end of the stamp duty holiday could create a cliff-edge, with prices and transaction numbers plunging. And yet that has not happened at all.

“One of the reasons is simple economics, with demand exceeding supply and hence upwards pressure on prices.”

But Samuel Tombs, chief UK economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics, said: “We think that mortgage rates will rise.”