According to Nationwide, UK house prices have had their strongest year since 2006.
December saw house price growth increase to 10.4%, which is up from 10.0% in November.
House prices were up by 1% in December, meaning the average home in the UK now costs £254,822 – £24,000 then the start of the year.
“Demand has remained strong in recent months, despite the end of the stamp duty holiday at the end of September,” said Robert Gardner, Nationwide’s chief economist.
“Mortgage approvals for house purchase have continued to run above pre-pandemic levels, despite the surge in activity seen earlier in the year. Indeed, in the first 11 months of 2021 the total number of property transactions was almost 30% higher than over the same period of 2019.”
“At the same time, the stock of homes on the market has remained extremely low throughout the year, which has contributed to the robust pace of price growth.”