House prices are rising at the fastest rate since January, says Halifax
HOUSE prices have risen by 2.4 per cent over the the last three months making it the fastest rate increase since January, according to Halifax.
Property prices from September to November are 3.9 per cent higher than they were in the same three months last year.
The 0.5 per cent rise from October to November marks the fifth month in a row that house prices have gone up, reported the UK's biggest mortgage lender.
The average price of a property in Britain is now £226,821, compared to £219,741 in January 2017.
That means house hunters are looking at forking out an extra £7,080 than they would have done at the beginning of the year.
But the 3.9 per cent annual rise in November has dropped on the previous month, when a whopping 4.5 per cent year-on-year rise was reported in October.
Russell Galley, managing director, Halifax Community Bank, said: "The imbalance between supply and demand continues to support house prices, which doesn’t look like
changing in the near future."
He also said that if prices continue to outstrip wage growth, then it's likely to curb the demand for housing and cause the price growth to ease.
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Property portal Rightmove reported that November saw the number of properties dropping the asking price hit a five-year high, as sellers hoped to tempt buyers.
They saw a third of properties on the market have their asking prices cut by a "modest" 0.8 per cent - an average of £2,392.
The Chancellor's decision to scrap Stamp Duty for first time buyers is expected have an impact on the housing market, but the Office for Budget Responsibility warned that it would push house prices up by 0.3 per cent.
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"Increased demand will certainly place upward pressure on the market," said Jeff Knight at Foundation Home Loans, "at least until reforms to the planning system start to have an effect and more land is made available for the promised thousands of new builds.
"In the meantime, a concerted effort to progress and improve the rental sector is crucial. Affordable homes do not have to equal ownership, so we also need to focus on developing high quality properties for tenants until they are in a position to buy."
The government will be releasing their own house property index on November in January 2018.
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