Nationwide said on Tuesday that house price growth remained subdued in September.
Indeed, Nationwide’s House Price Index revealed that UK annual house prices grew by 0.2% in September. This marks the tenth consecutive month in which annual price growth has been below 1%.
As for the month of September itself, house prices saw a monthly change of -0.2%, after considering “seasonal factors,” Nationwide said.
“Indicators of UK economic activity have been fairly volatile in recent quarters, but the underlying pace of growth appears to have slowed as a result of weaker global growth and an intensification of Brexit uncertainty,” Robert Gardner, Nationwide’s Chief Economist, commented on the data.
Indeed, as the nation has now entered the month of the extended Halloween Brexit deadline, the only certainty that remains now is additional uncertainty.
Just last week the Supreme Court ruled that Boris Johnson’s prorogation of Parliament was not only unlawful but also ineffective and non-existent.
“However, the slowdown has centred on business investment – household spending has been more resilient, supported by steady gains in employment and real earnings,” Nationwide’s Chief Economist continued.
“The underlying pace of housing market activity has remained broadly stable, with the number of mortgages approved for house purchase continuing within the fairly narrow range prevailing over the past two years. Healthy labour market conditions and low borrowing costs appear to be offsetting the drag from the uncertain economic outlook.”
According to the data, London was the weakest performing region in the third quarter, followed closely by the surrounding Outer Metropolitan region, with annual price declines of of 1.7% and 1.5% respectively.
This marks the ninth quarter in a row where prices have dropped in the capital city.
Meanwhile, Northern Ireland remained the strongest performing home nation in the third quarter, but Nationwide’s Chief Economist did note that annual price growth moderated to 3.4%.
