UK House Prices Rise To Record High: Halifax

(RTTNews) - UK house prices rose to a record high in October as property market activity remained strong ahead of Autumn Budget, data from the mortgage lender Halifax revealed Friday. The value of the average UK homes reached GBP 299,862 in October, the highest on record.

House prices grew 0.6 percent month-on-month in October, which was the fastest since January. Prices were forecast to edge up 0.1 percent, reversing September's 0.3 percent drop.

At the same time, annual growth in house prices rose more-than-expected to 1.9 percent from 1.3 percent in September. Economists had anticipated a 1.5 percent rise. "Demand from buyers has held up well coming into autumn, despite a degree of uncertainty in the market, with the number of new mortgages being approved recently hitting its highest level so far this year," Halifax head of mortgages Amanda Bryden said.

Bryden observed that affordability remains a challenge. Although average fixed mortgage rates are likely to slow down further, property prices at record levels stretch the affordability.

"With house prices rising more slowly than incomes for almost three years now, we expect the trend of gradually improving affordability to continue," said Bryden.

Data came a day after the Bank of England decided to hold the interest rate at 4.00 percent in a tight vote and signaled that the rate will follow a gradual downward path if disinflation process continues. Markets expect a rate cut in December.