Value of average home ‘relatively static for ten months’, says Office for National Statistics
Following the release of the latest national house price index, published by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) alongside broader inflation figures this morning, Samuel Tombs, chief UK economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics, told the BBC: “It is now abundantly clear that the housing market is in its softest patch for several years.”
According to today’s report, property values were down between February and March in all regions of the UK except Wales and the West Midlands.
On an annual basis, averages rose 4.1 per cent to £215,848, well down on recent rates of more than five per cent, while the ONS said the average valuation has remained “relatively static for ten months”.
As a prime example of the broader slowdown in growth, the annual house price growth rate in London was 1.5 per cent in March, compared to 15 per cent in March 2017 and more than 28 per cent in April 2000.
Tombs added: “Looking ahead, it is very hard to see growth in central London prices recovering, given that valuations look stretched, the financial sector is facing an uncertain post-Brexit future and volatility in sterling is undermining property’s safe-haven appeal for overseas investors.”
