UK house prices: pace of growth slows but property prices are still rising post-Brexit
Whatever else happens in this world you can rely on property prices to pursue their own relentless upward path as this article shows. All of which, irrespective of other economic factors, has iniquitous impacts for rural areas – driving factors such as rural depopulation of the young, nimbyism and an ongoing unrealistic sanctification of greenbelt policy in some inappropriate areas. Much to ponder in this most acutely challenging area of public policy….
The Office for National Statistics’ house price index shows a moderation in house price growth from 9.7 per cent in the year to June, to 8.3 per cent in the year to July.
House prices rose by 0.4 per cent between June and July, although many of the property sales recorded in the ONS data would have been well under way before the EU referendum on 23 June.
At £217,000, the average price of a UK home in July is £17,000 higher than a year ago.
In London, average prices rose by 12.3 per cent in the last 12 months to £485,000 – more than double the UK average.
Overall, the figures reflect that house price growth is slowing. However, it’s too early to tell whether this is directly related to the referendum or because of other factors, including an annual seasonal slowdown and reduced demand from buy-to-let landlords following stamp-duty increases earlier this year.