UK house prices have increased over November, growing by 1.9%.
According to Nationwide, house prices have picked up by 0.3% on a month-by-month basis but remain “relatively subdued”.
This week saw the Bank of England’s Brexit analysis, which warned that a no-deal scenario could lead to house prices plunging by 30%.
The building society announced on Friday that the future of the housing market will depend on how broader economic conditions will evolve.
Nationwide’s chief economist, Robert Gardner, said: “In the near term, the squeeze on household budgets and the uncertain economic outlook is likely to continue to dampen demand, even though borrowing costs remain low and the unemployment rate is near 40-year lows.”
“If the uncertainty lifts in the months ahead and employment continues to rise, there is scope for activity to pick-up through next year. The squeeze on household incomes is already moderating and policymakers have signalled that, if the economy performs as they expect, interest rates are only expected to rise at a modest pace and to a limited extent in the years ahead.”
The average home now costs £214,044.
The market significantly improved in the wake of the 2008 financial crises, where prices plunged 60%. In recent years, construction has picked up particularly in the South West, London and the East of England.
In the North East and North West, where house prices are still near 2007 levels, growth in supply has been more modest.
In other housing news, October saw mortgage approvals hit a 9-month high.
“These figures are better than expected, after unchanged monthly price and lowest annual growth for more than five years last month,” said Jeremy Leaf, who is a north London estate agent and the former RICS residential chairman.
“They come on the back of encouraging mortgage approval and transaction figures yesterday which show, once again, that realistic buyers and sellers are taking advantage of very low mortgage rates and shrugging off Brexit concerns,” he added.
