Annual Property Price Growth at Two-Year Low
By |Published On: 3rd July 2015|

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Annual Property Price Growth at Two-Year Low

By |Published On: 3rd July 2015|

This article is an external press release originally published on the Landlord News website, which has now been migrated to the Just Landlords blog.

The annual rate of property price growth dropped to a two-year low in June, revealed Nationwide.

Annual Property Price Growth at Two-Year Low

Annual Property Price Growth at Two-Year Low

The building society found that annual house price inflation fell to 3.3% last month from 4.6% in May. A year ago, prices were increasing by 11.8%.

Property prices in Wales and Scotland have even fallen in the past year, according to Nationwide.

Between May and June, prices around the UK decreased by 0.2%, making the average UK house price now £195,055.

Nationwide’s Chief Economist, Robert Gardner, says: “House price growth continues to outpace earnings, but the gap is closing, helped by a pick-up in annual wage growth, which moved up to 2.7% in the three months to April from 1.9% at the start of the year.

“The slowdown in house price growth is not confined to, nor does it appear to be driven primarily by, developments in London.”1

Last month, a study by LSL Property Services revealed that prices in parts of central London have declined by up to 22% since last autumn.

Some economists did not expect house price inflation to drop so continuously.

Chief UK and European Economist at IHS Global Insight, Howard Archer, comments: “While we are slightly surprised by June’s dip in house prices, it does not fundamentally change our view that house prices are likely to be firmer over the second half of the year.”1 

Archer still predicts price rises of 6% this year and 5% next year.

Capital Economics’ Matthew Pointon says the monthly price drop does not mean the market is cooling: “On an underlying basis, prices are still rising, and with active housing demand finally recovering, annual house price gains have bottomed out.”1 

Regionally, the area with the fastest price growth is now Northern Ireland, with increases of 8% over the year between the second quarter (Q2) of 2014 and Q2 2015, found Nationwide.

In London, prices rose by 7.3%.

In Scotland, prices dropped by 1% in 12 months and Wales experienced price decreases of 0.8%.

Regional house price changes between Q2 2014-Q2 2015

Region Annual change Average price
Northern Ireland 8% £126,525
London 7.3% £429,711
Outer London 6.8% £315, 620
South East 6% £244,119
East Anglia 5.2% £198,826
East Midlands 4.1% £160,482
South West 3.8% £215,363
West Midlands 3.4% £165,873
Yorkshire and the Humber 3.3% £147,387
North West 1.4% £146,908
North 0.1% £125,189
Wales -0.8% £144,701
Scotland -1% £140,512

However, within these regions, there were large variations between prices in individual cities.

In property hotspots, Reading saw prices rise 13%, Oxford experienced price growth of 12% and in Edinburgh, prices increased by 11%.

Prices fell in areas including Sunderland, at 4% and Nottingham, the Highlands and Islands, and West Yorkshire at 2%.

1 http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-33359468

About the Author: Em Morley (she/they)

Em is the Content Marketing Manager for Just Landlords, with over five years of experience writing for insurance and property websites. Together with the knowledge and expertise of the Just Landlords underwriting team, Em aims to provide those in the property industry with helpful resources. When she’s not at her computer researching and writing property and insurance guides, you’ll find her exploring the British countryside, searching for geocaches.

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