UK house price inflation lowest in six years in 2018
Staff Writer |
UK house prices increased by +0.4% on a quarterly basis in the final three months of 2018, according to the latest figures provided by the Halifax House Price Index.
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The index, which is administered by IHS Markit, also signalled that prices increased by +1.9% year-onyear, down from +2.7% in the previous quarter and the lowest pace of inflation on this measure for just under six years.
Looking at the 2018 calendar year as a whole, prices increased by +2.8% compared to 2017, when inflation was running at +3.3%.
The increase seen in 2018 was the lowest recorded by the index since 2012, when prices declined by -0.6%.
Continued inflation in 2018 nonetheless meant that, in cash terms, the standardised UK house price increased to a new record level of £228,512, up by £6,173 on the 2017 reading.
Of the 12 UK regions, 11 registered increases in house prices during 2018, with only the North of England recording a fall (-0.3%).
Trends continued to vary, however.
London recorded only a marginal increase in prices (+0.9%), which was the weakest gain in seven years of continuous inflation.
Similarly, inflation in the South West eased noticeably to just +1.0%, whilst the +2.0% increase seen in the South East was the weakest since 2012.
Elsewhere, marginal gains were also recorded in Wales (+0.9%) and Yorkshire & Humber (+0.7%), whilst inflation in the North West slipped to a sixyear low of +2.6%.
In contrast, the West Midlands saw a robust increase in house prices, with inflation running at +6.5%, compared to +5.0% in 2017.
East Anglia (+4.4%) and the East Midlands (+3.5%) also recorded price gains above the national average.
Within England, the West Midlands also recorded the largest cash terms price increase during 2018 (+£12,891), followed by East Anglia (+10,161).
Nonetheless, actual price levels remain comfortably the highest in London, where the standardised property price sits at £452,356, a level that is nearly double the UK average of £228,512.
Moreover, compared to 2009 when the financial crisis reached its peak in terms of negative impact on economic output, prices in the capital are some +82.7% higher, comfortably the strongest inflation in the UK.
Net gains in house prices over the past decade were also strong in the regions surrounding the capital, with the South East and East Anglia recording respective 10-year increases of +61.1% and +55.9%. ■