2018 is bad news for the housing market, as fewer homes have been on the market this year than in any other year during the past decade.
Halifax, the UK’s largest mortgage lender, said that it’s pretty slim-pickings in terms of houses.
Russell Galley, managing director of Halifax, said that the combination of low mortgage rates and more people in work has lead to the demand for homes remaining steady.
Furthermore, the lack of homes available means those prices are on the rise still!
In the year to the end of September, house prices rose by 2.5%, with the average home costing £225,995, the lender said.
However, there is evidence of this growth easing, with a decrease from 3.7% in August.
Lucy Pendleton, founder director of independent estate agents James Pendleton, said: “September is a month that normally sees a burst of activity as people return from holiday and go back to work. So a fall of this scale is quite a retreat.”
In fact, house prices fell by 1.4% in September compared with the previous month. This kind of month-on-month change is considered to be quite a volatile measure, but this is actually now the second drop in a row.
“The concern is that legions of Brits didn’t get back from holiday and head straight out again to the estate agent like they usually do.
“The back to work bounce is nowhere to be seen,” Lucy added.
On another note, the building society said the Yorkshire and Humberside area has displayed the biggest regional rise in the UK, and saw annual house price growth of 5.8% in the third quarter of the year.
Let’s hope the prices drop again soon though, maybe similar to Aldi’s method of cheapness! Is that too much to ask?
