UK House Price Growth Accelerates In December

(RTTNews) - UK house prices increased at a faster pace in December, data from the Nationwide Building Society showed Thursday.

House prices grew 4.7 percent year-on-year in December, faster than the 3.7 percent increase in November and also stronger than economists' forecast of 3.8 percent gain.

At the same time, on a monthly basis, house price inflation softened to 0.7 percent from 1.2 percent in November. Prices were expected to climb only 0.1 percent.

"… it was encouraging that activity levels in the housing market increased over the course of 2024 with the number of mortgages approved for house purchase each month rising above pre-pandemic levels towards the end of the year," Nationwide's Chief Economist Robert Gardner said.

Gardner said the underlying pace of housing market activity is likely to continue to strengthen gradually as affordability constraints ease through a combination of modestly lower interest rates and earnings outpacing house price growth.