Halifax: unexpected house price growth in January
House prices rose by 1.9% in the three months to January, says Halifax.
The housing market showed unexpected growth last month, according to the Halifax House Price Index.
House prices rose 2% month-on-month, the biggest the biggest January monthly increase since 2009.
Figures also show the first quarterly rate increase for six months at 1.9%.
Annual price growth picked up from 7.8% in December to 8.5%, though this remains significantly below last July’s peak of 10.2%.
Here’s a snapshot of the past year in house price terms:
|
|
Standardised average price |
Monthly change |
Quarterly change |
Annual change |
|
January 2014 |
£175,793 |
0.9% |
2% |
7.3% |
|
February 2014 |
£180,163 |
2.5% |
2.3% |
7.9% |
|
March 2014 |
£177,996 |
-1.2% |
2.2% |
8.7% |
|
April 2014 |
£177,524 |
-0.3% |
2.2% |
8.5% |
|
May 2014 |
£184,566 |
4% |
1.9% |
8.7% |
|
June 2014 |
£183,825 |
-0.4% |
2.3% |
8.8% |
|
July 2014 |
£186,073 |
1.2% |
3.5% |
10.2% |
|
August 2014 |
£186,101 |
0% |
2.9% |
9.7% |
|
September 2014 |
£186,898 |
0.4% |
2.7% |
9.6% |
|
October 2014 |
£186,223 |
-0.4% |
0.9% |
8.8% |
|
November 2014 |
£187,197 |
0.5% |
0.8% |
8.1% |
|
December 2014 |
£189,304 |
1.1% |
0.3% |
7.8% |
|
January 2015 |
£193,130 |
2% |
1.9% |
8.5% |
Source: Halifax House Price Index
Halifax said that house prices can be 'particularly volatile' in January due to the lower volumes of activity at this time of the year, pointing out there have been big jumps in the past, such as the 2.3% jump in 2007 and the 2.4% rise in 2009.
Halifax is sticking with its prediction of moderate house price growth during 2015, forecasting prices to rise by 3-5%, compared to 8% last year.
More demand, less supply
A lack of supply is still one of the most pressing problems facing the housing market. According to the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS), while demand has weakened in recent months, new instructions fell for the fifth consecutive month in December. And that lack of supply can only serve to push prices up
Compare mortgages with lovemoney.com
More on housing:
Nationwide: house price growth slows again in January
New property site OnTheMarket challenges Zoopla and Rightmove
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