The Halifax have release their HPI for June 2016 today.
House prices in the three months to June 2016 were 1.2% higher than in the three months to March 2016.
Martin Ellis, Halifax housing economist, said:
“There is evidence that the underlying pace of house growth may be easing. House prices in the three months to June were 1.2% higher than in the previous quarter; down from 1.5% in May. The annual rate of growth fell from 9.2% in May to 8.4%; the lowest since July 2015. “House prices continue to increase, albeit at a slower rate, but this precedes the EU referendum result, therefore it is far too early to determine any impact since.”
Home sales stabilised in May. The introduction of higher stamp duty tax rates for buy to let and a second home in April has had a substantial impact on house sales in recent months. A rush to complete sales ahead of the tax change caused a sharp rise in March, which was followed by a substantial decline in April.
Mortgage approvals rose modestly in May. The stamp duty change has also affected mortgage approvals in recent months.
Rob Weaver, Director of Investments at property crowdfunding platform Property Partner, comments:
“Despite all the uncertainty in the lead-up to the EU referendum, June’s data shows prices still stubbornly rising, but at a slower pace. This reinforces the recurring issue of the paucity of residential property and continuing appetite to buy in Britain.
“This is a snapshot of the market pre-Brexit, and while the vote to leave has resulted in a political earthquake, the fundamentals in the housing market remain unchanged – people still need a roof over their heads.
“There’s been a stand-off between sellers and buyers with transactions dropping off since the stampede in March to beat the stamp duty deadline. But sales should start to pick up in coming months with the weight of uncertainty now partially lifted.
“While people clearly delayed house purchases in the lead-up to the referendum, that backlog in transactions should unwind through the second half of the year. Life decisions like moving house can’t be put on hold forever.
“During periods of volatility in the stock and currency markets, investors tend to prefer assets which can provide a reliable income, combined with lower risk to preserve their wealth. For investors, residential property offers both of these attributes.
“Historically, residential property has been the best performing and lowest risk of all the major asset classes. Since 1973, through oil shocks, recessions, dotcom bubbles and the global financial crisis, the UK residential market has seen no five-year period with negative total returns.”
Russell Quirk, Founder and CEO at www.eMoov.co.uk said:
“Today’s figures show, even in the wake of Brexit, that the UK housing market is fundamentally strong. With a continuing, acute shortage of new housing being built and a growing population even if immigration numbers are now curtailed, the demand vs supply imbalance and the prospect of even low interest rates will underpin the market. Even if there are short term confidence wobbles fuelled by a media hungry for bad news.”
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