14 Year Record Average House Price Falls

The Halifax Property Prices Index was published yesterday for August 2023.  Halifax results found that:

• Average UK house price fell by -1.9% in August, the largest monthly fall since November 2022.
• Property prices fell by -4.6% on an annual basis, from -2.5% in July, although prices were at a record peak last summer, so the fall is more dramatic.
• The average UK home now costs £279,569, down £14,000 over a year but still only back to the levels seen in early 2022 and still around £40,000 above pre-pandemic levels.

Comment

We all know that the cost-of-living squeeze combined with higher mortgage payments due to interest rate increases with more rate increases to come will put further pressure on the property market.  That said, we suggest this is only a correction to the artificial spike in prices during the pandemic, so most property owners are still in positive territory with equity locked in.

That said, +11% annual growth in August 2022 compared to a -4.6% annual loss, a swing of 15.6% is huge.

London and the South East is, understandably under the greatest pressure given prices are higher here so falls will be larger whereas Scotland and Northern Ireland were more resilient.  Expect it to get worse before property prices tick up again