House prices rise for the third consecutive months as mortgage rates fall

The latest Halifax index shows that house prices climbed by 0.3% in September versus the previous month.

On an annual basis they increased by 4.7% and this marked the fastest rate of house price growth since November 2022.

A typical family home price stands at £293,399 which is up from £292,540 in August and this is the highest level since June 2022.

Amanda Bryden, head of Mortgages at Halifax, said, “UK house prices climbed for the third month in a row in September, with a slight increase of £859 in cash terms. The annual growth rate has edged up to 4.7%, bringing the average property price close to the record high of £293,507 set in June 2022.”

Bryden added, “While the typical property value has risen by around £13,000 over the past year, this increase primarily represents a recovery of losses from the previous year. Over the last two years, prices have only risen by a modest 0.4% (£1,202).”

Nathan Emerson, CEO at Propertymark, said, “It is very welcome news to see yet further growth in the housing market and taking a wide-angle view of the year, there is no doubt consumers are now able to approach the buying and selling process with a far greater degree of confidence compared to the very start of the year.

“There is still further progress to be made, but with strong hints we may see further dips in the base rate before the year is out, we are seeing some lenders already confident enough to switch up their mortgage offerings which is proving very welcome news for borrows.”

Foxtons CEO, Guy Gittins, said, “Increased mortgage market certainty is allowing UK buyers to act with greater confidence and we’ve seen the rates available on many mortgage products continue to trend downwards since a hold on the base rate in September of last year.

Not only has this helped to accelerate the rate of house price growth being seen across the UK property market, but we’re now seeing transactional volumes climb as these sales make it over the line.

In fact, the latest government figures show that in August, the number of monthly transactions exceeded the 100,000 threshold for the first time since December 2022. A very positive sign indeed and a strong indication that the market is now returning to form.”