By Karl Matchett
House prices are still on the up, but were doing so at a much slower rate in June compared to last year, Nationwide data shows.
House price growth was still rising at 3.5 per cent annually in May, but in June that dropped to 2.1 per cent.
The average house price was 拢271,619 and the area of England with highest growth was the north, at more than 5 per cent, while East Anglia grew at barely above 1 per cent.
鈥淭he softening in price growth may reflect weaker demand following the increase in stamp duty at the start of April. Nevertheless, we still expect activity to pick up as the summer progresses, despite ongoing economic uncertainties in the global economy, since underlying conditions for potential homebuyers in the UK remain supportive,鈥 said Robert Gardner, Nationwide’s chief economist.
鈥淭he unemployment rate remains low, earnings are rising at a healthy pace in real terms (i.e. after accounting for inflation), household balance sheets are strong and borrowing costs are likely to moderate a little if Bank Rate is lowered further in the coming quarters as we and most other analysts expect.鈥