House prices have risen by almost 15 per cent since the start of the pandemic, after annual house price growth rose again in November.
Annual price growth across the UK rose 10 per cent, up from 9.9 per cent in October, Nationwide Building Society said. Prices rose by 0.9 per cent month on month, taking the average UK property value to £252,687.
Robert Gardner, Nationwide’s chief economist, said: “House prices are now almost 15 per cent above the level prevailing in March last year when the pandemic struck the UK.
“There have been some signs of cooling in housing market activity in recent months; for example, the number of housing transactions were down almost 30 per cent year on year in October.
“But this was almost inevitable, given the expiry of the stamp duty holiday (in England and Northern Ireland) at the end of September, which gave buyers a strong incentive to bring forward their purchase to avoid additional tax.”
The number of transactions is now “tracking close to the number seen at the same stage in 2007, before the global financial crisis struck”, he added.
