UK House-Price Growth Halves to 2% as Market Cools
Annual house-price growth in the UK slowed to 2 per cent in the year to June, down sharply from 3 per cent the month before, official figures showed, leaving the average home at £272,000. Prices barely moved over the month. The North West led with growth of 4.7 per cent while London lagged at 2.5 per cent; Northern Ireland continued to rise fastest over the quarter.
The cooling reflects a market losing the momentum it drew from last year’s rush to beat stamp-duty changes, as higher borrowing costs and stretched affordability weigh on buyers. For homeowners, near-flat prices mean little of the paper wealth of recent years; for would-be buyers, it offers only modest relief when mortgage rates remain high and gilt yields sit near multi-year peaks. The regional gap, a buoyant North against a sluggish London and South, continues a slow rebalancing of the housing map. With the Bank of England’s next rate decision weeks away, the direction of prices will hinge on whether borrowing costs finally ease. Watch the autumn budget and the mortgage market for the next signal.