House Price Growth In UK 'Fastest For Almost 6 Years'
UK House prices are 6.5% higher than this time last across the UK according to Nationwide.
Despite the pandemic that has ripped through the majority of industries, the UK property market has remained ‘robust’ said Nationwide.
The lender revealed the average value of properties they valued was £229,721, but added that the price increase is expected to slow .
With COVID forcing many to work from home for what looks like the foreseeable future and the stamp duty incentives people are looking to move sooner rather than later, which has been reflected in the UK’s property market.
Robert Gardner, Nationwide's chief economist, said the economic fall-out from the Covid crisis would eventually be felt in the housing market.
"The outlook remains highly uncertain and will depend heavily on how the pandemic and the measures to contain it evolve as well as the efficacy of policy measures implemented to limit the damage to the wider economy," he said.
"Housing market activity is likely to slow in the coming quarters, perhaps sharply, if the labour market weakens as most analysts expect, especially once the stamp duty holiday expires at the end of March."
Long Term Outlook
Analysts say a change in working trends post-vaccine could also affect the market.
Samuel Tombs, chief UK economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics said: "A relatively narrow cohort of well-off households, who already own their homes with little debt, seem to be driving the market with the savings that they have realised this year from working from home.
"House prices remain vulnerable to fall next year, when the trend towards working from home will be going into reverse, stamp duty will be higher, and mortgage rates still will be above their pre-Covid level, due to the weakened labour market."
The Nationwide also said its research suggested properties in national parks carried a 20% premium when sold, with homes on the outskirts of these areas also selling for 6% more than the equivalent property elsewhere.
