House prices continue to rise -Halifax

According to the latest Halifax house price index published this week, the average price of a UK home was £204,552 in November.

The report found that quarter-on-quarter prices continued to grow as supply tightened, but that growth of 1.4 per cent in the three months to November marked the smallest rise since December last year.

The Halifax also said that property prices in the quarter were 9 per cent higher than in the same quarter of 2014, compared to 9.7 per cent in October.

Supply dropped to a record low, Halifax said, and the number of new instructions by home sellers dropped in October for the ninth successive month.

Martin Ellis, Halifax housing economist, said: “Solid economic growth, rising real earnings and falls in already very low mortgage rates have combined to stimulate housing demand this year.

“The increasingly acute imbalance between supply and demand is causing prices to rise at a robust pace. A situation that is unlikely to reverse significantly in the short-term.”

In response to the figures, chief European and UK economist at IHS Economics Howard Archer said his team expects house prices to see “solid underlying increases over the coming months amid firm buyer interest” backed by factors including the shortage of properties.

He said that taking various surveys into account, he thought house prices will rise by about 6 per cent to 7 per cent next year. “The shortage of properties poses a significant upside risks to these forecasts,” he added.