Home Prices in UK Fall in October

Home prices fell in the UK fell month-over-month for the second time as higher rates are cooling down the market, according to the latest data from the Halifax House Price Index

• M-O-M: Home prices were down 0.4% in October, this is a bigger dip compared to the 0.1% drop in September

• Y-O-Y: Annual home prices growth slowed to 8.3%, down from 9.8% in September and down from 11.4% in August.

Almost Everywhere. With the exception of the North East, all English regions reported weaker annual price growth in October.

Price. Kim Kinnaird, Director, Halifax Mortgages, said things are definitely slowing… “Average house prices fell in October, the third such decrease in the past four months. The drop of -0.4% is the sharpest we have seen since February 2021, taking the typical property price to a five-month low of £292,598.”

• “Though the recent period of rapid house price inflation may now be at an end, it’s important to keep this is context, with average property prices rising more than £22,000 in the past 12 months, and by almost £60,000 (+25.7%) over the last three years, which is significant”

Markets don’t appear too concerned about a slowing housing market as the FTSE was basically unchanged halfway through the trading day.

• Asia had a positive start to the week with the Hang Seng Index up 2.69% at the close. Shanghai was far less impressive with a 0.23% gain on the day and in Japan, the Nikkei was up 1.21%.

• US equity markets were all smiles before the open with S&P futures up 0.69%, or 24 points, followed by Dow and Nasdaq futures up 0.63% and 0.62%, respectively.