That’s a 0.1% increase from July, and means that annual growth has jumped from 3.3% to 3.7% since last month.
Russell Galley, managing director at Halifax, noted that while employment growth is slowing, the low rate of unemployment and a gradual improvement in wage growth are serving to boost household finances.
“This has been accompanied by interest rates still remaining at a historically low rate and a stable, yet constrained, supply of new homes onto the market further supporting house prices,” he added.
A nervy time
Ishaan Malhi, chief executive officer and founder of Trussle, suggested there was some “nervousness” in the market currently, due to a combination of slow house price growth and mortgage deals becoming more expensive following the base rate rise.
He added: “Today’s home owners aren’t seeing their homes increase in value like previous generations, so it’s more important than ever for them to investigate switching to a more competitive mortgage deal.”
Don’t talk down the market
Sam Mitchell, chief executive officer of online estate agent Housesimple.com, suggested that the figures show the property market is in better health “than the doommongers have led us to believe”, and argued that “constantly talking down the property market” risks causing a crash, particularly if the capital is subject to too much of the focus.
Mitchell continued: “Investment in the regions is paying dividends. The strength of local economies, with thriving business hubs attracting talent to the areas, is having a positive effect on property prices. And whereas in London, affordability has been a recurring problem, in regions such as the north west, there is still plenty of room for house prices to grow before affordability becomes an issue.”
Ditching moving plans
Ross Boyd, founder of mortgage platform Dashly.com, warned that with the likelihood of a no-deal Brexit rising, household finances under pressure and base rate rises, many households will have scrapped any plans to move home altogether.
He continued: “In such an uncertain climate, both political and economic, people are sitting tight and getting their finances shipshape, and remortgaging, rather than risk overexposing themselves.”
