UK house prices hit record high - as property expert issues stamp duty warning

It comes arsenic the Bank of England is expected to chopped involvement rates for the 2nd clip this year, with the bulk of economists expecting a simplification from 5% to 4.75%

The mean UK house price deed a caller grounds precocious successful October, according to Halifax.

The emblematic property present costs £293,99 - up 0.2% and the 4th monthly summation successful a row. On a year-by-year basis, spot prices were up 3.9% - but this is down from a 4.6% yearly summation successful September. The erstwhile grounds was £293,999, which was recorded by Halifax successful June 2022.

It comes arsenic the Bank of England is expected to chopped involvement rates for the 2nd clip this year. The basal complaint presently sits astatine 5% and the bulk of economists are expecting this to beryllium reduced to 4.75% erstwhile the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) meets this afternoon.

Amanda Bryden, caput of mortgages astatine Halifax, said: "Despite the headwind of higher involvement rates, house prices person mostly levelled disconnected implicit the past 2 and a fractional years, signaling a 0.2% summation overall. That’s a important slowdown compared to the 21% emergence we saw successful the equivalent play from January 2020 to the summertime of 2022."

House prices are expected to support increasing astatine a "modest pace" for the remainder of this twelvemonth and into next, she said. However, Ms Bryden warned that request could beryllium hampered by changes to stamp work and the anticipation that involvement rates whitethorn not beryllium chopped arsenic rapidly arsenic antecedently expected pursuing the Budget and US election.

She said: "New policies similar higher stamp work for 2nd location buyers and a instrumentality to erstwhile thresholds for first-time buyers mightiness besides impact demand. While we expect location prices to support growing, it volition apt beryllium astatine a humble gait for the remainder of this twelvemonth and into next. The imaginable for a slower gait of involvement complaint cuts won’t beryllium the quality homebuyers volition privation to hear, peculiarly arsenic they indispensable besides contend with taxation rises."

Alice Haine, a idiosyncratic concern expert astatine Bestinvest by Evelyn Partners, an online concern service, said: "While the UK residential spot marketplace enjoyed a post-election resurgence implicit the summertime arsenic affordability concerns eased, the outlook from present is mixed. Mortgage rates whitethorn not behave arsenic radical hope. Volatile swap rates successful the aftermath of the Budget person been a origin for interest arsenic they rise the hazard of borrowing costs edging up."

Full database of mean location prices by area

Here are mean location prices followed by the yearly increase, according to Halifax. The determination yearly alteration figures are based connected the astir caller 3 months of approved owe transactions.

• East Midlands, £242,189, 4.4%
• Eastern England, £333,741, 3.1%
• London, £543,308, 3.5%
• North East, £172,730, 4.0%
• North West, £235,587, 5.9%
• Northern Ireland, £204,242, 10.2%
• Scotland, £206,480, 1.9%
• South East, £387,587, 3.2%
• South West, £303,362, 3.3%
• Wales, £225,543, 5.6%
• West Midlands, £257,287, 4.7%
• Yorkshire and the Humber, £211,629, 5.3%