UK house price inflation slows to 15-month low in July - Nationwide |
|
|
Published
:
Thu, 26 Jul 2007 07:19
|
LONDON (Thomson Financial) - UK house price growth slowed to a 15-month low in July as the market reacted to the Bank of England's five rate hikes since August last year, according to figures from the country's biggest building society, Nationwide.It said prices rose by just 0.1 pct in July from the previous month for a 9.9 pct annual gain.The figures were far worse than expected. House prices were expected to gain 0.5 pct, after rising by their biggest monthly amount this year of 1.1 pct in June, and to gain 10.6 pct on an annual basis, also slower than the 11.1 pct rate seen previously.The average house price is now at 184,270 stg.Nationwide's chief economist, Fonnuala Earley, said: 'After surprisingly picking up steam in June, house prices were almost unchanged in July, and their underlying trend growth resumed a downward path.''House prices managed a seasonally adjusted gain of only 0.1 pct in July, the slowest pace of growth since April 2006.'The slowdown may well continue. Nationwide estimates that over the next 18 months, nearly two million borrowers will see their fixed rate deals expire, leaving them with the choice of reverting to the standard variable rate or re-mortgaging onto a new fixed rate deal or tracker mortgage.Most borrowers are likely to take the option of switching to a fixed rate, given that these are considerably below the standard variable rate. This is expected to further weigh on the property market.sivakumar.sithraputhran@thomson.comss/amCOPYRIGHTCopyright AFX News Limited 2007. All rights reserved.The copying, republication or redistribution of AFX News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of AFX News.
|
|
|
|
Print this Story
UK's Nationwide maintains forecast for 2007 house price inflation of 5-8 pct 