Home > News > UK house prices fall for fifth month in a row

UK house prices fall for fifth month in a row

House prices in the UK continued to fall in January, sliding for the fifth month in a row, according to Nationwide, pushing the average cost of a home 3.2% below the peak seen last August.

The cost of a home dropped by 0.6% in the first month of the year compared with December 2022, according to the building society’s monthly survey.

Annual house price growth also slowed at the start of the year to 1.1%, down from 2.8% in December. This is the lowest growth since June 2020, when the housing market reopened after being frozen during the early months of the Covid pandemic.

The average price of a home slid to £258,297 in January, a fall of almost £4,000 from a month earlier, when the average property price was £262,068

Nationwide said it was too early to tell whether housing market activity had started to recover, as mortgage rates offered by lenders are returning to normal after they soared following Liz Truss and Kwasi Kwarteng’s disastrous mini-budget last September.

Demand for mortgages also tumbled to its lowest level since the 2020 Covid lockdown in December, according to figures from the Bank of England, which found the number of home loan approvals continued to drop in December.

Nationwide’s chief economist Robert Gardiner said the gloomy economic outlook was likely to continue to impact the housing market and prospective buyers.

“It will be hard for the market to regain much momentum in the near term as economic headwinds are set to remain strong, with real earnings likely to fall further and the labour market widely projected to weaken as the economy shrinks,” he said.

Nationwide found that prospective house buyers faced a more significant challenge to afford the property due to the increase in mortgage rates.

Mortgage rates have been falling marginally in recent weeks, although the Bank of England is expected to raise interest rates further on Thursday, in what would be the 10th rise in succession.

HICH LTD has continually raised the quality standards in the UK property survey market. Our multi-award-winning property survey service has made us the leading reference in the property survey market.

We offer property survey services of the highest quality. Using state-of-the-art equipment, we provide top-notch property surveys at affordable prices. Our prices are based on the number of rooms rather than the value of the properties, so you will always get the best value for money with our services.

Please look at our Trustpilot page and see why customers have chosen us as their favourite property survey provider!

At HICH LTD, we work to serve our clients and make the world a better place for everyone. We actively collaborate with NGOs to promote environmental, social and charitable causes. If you want to know more about our efforts or how you can help, contact us at hichinfo@aol.co.uk.

HICH LTD extends a warm invitation to contractors and service providers throughout the UK to join our network; by joining the Contractors and Service Providers Network, you will enjoy benefits such as a significant increase in customer flow, advertising on our high-traffic website, and direct contact with thousands of customers in your zip area. Find more information here or by following the QR code in the following video.