UK house prices rise for third month in a row

The UK housing market is showing resilience as house prices edge higher in March according to the latest price index from Halifax. The increase has defied economists’ expectations of a 0.3% fall.

The average house price in the UK now sits at £287,880 which results in a monthly increase of 0.8% and an annual increase of 1.6%.

This is a slight softening from previous months this year (vs +2.1% for previous three months in a row), however the figures are showing a sign of resilience from early forecasts of 2023.

The average house price increased in all the UK nations and regions during March.

However, with the exceptions of Greater London and the North East, all areas of the country recorded a slowing down in the rate of annual house price inflation.

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Northern Ireland continues to report the strongest annual growth in house prices of +4.9% (average house price of £186,459), followed by the West Midlands (+3.8%, average property price of £248,308).

This is positive news for the West Midlands following the review of the region in our latest blog post where it recorded 267 repossessed properties which equates to 9% of the UK total.

There were 70 repossessions in Q4 which saw a 119% increase on the same period as last year with an additional 38 repossessed properties on record.

In Wales the rate of annual property price inflation has slowed to +1.0% (average house price of £213,959).

In total, Wales recorded 199 repossessed properties in 2022 which represented 7% of the UK total.

The latest Q4 figures showed that 53 repossessions were recorded which was a 141% increase from the same period as the previous year.

These latest figures are encouraging for the UK economy, especially as experts forecasted a less promising outcome at the start of this year.

Martin Beck, chief economic adviser to the EY Item Club, a forecaster, said he thinks “The economy is showing increased signs of health, aided by falling energy prices, with job creation continuing at a solid pace and consumer confidence recovering.”

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