Uncertainty ahead of the Budget causes house price growth to stall, says Rightmove

Colourful London properties as Rightmove finds average house prices have stalled

(Image credit: Getty Images)

published 21 October 2024

Uncertainty ahead of this month’s Budget saw asking prices for homes in the UK rise by much less than expected in October.

According to data from property website Rightmove, asking prices increased by just 0.3% in October, well below the 1.3% average for the month.

The near stasis comes as Rachel Reeves prepares to deliver her first Budget as chancellor on 30 October, with many fearing policy changes and tax rises that could be detrimental to house price growth.

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However, Rightmove says a glut of properties on the market also dampened price rises. The number of homes available for sale was 12% higher than the same time period last year.

Tim Bannister, the company’s director of property science, said: "This month's subdued price growth comes as buyer choice soars to a level not seen since 2014. With the ball in the buyer's court and the pick of a big crop to choose from, sellers need to be pricing competitively to find a buyer.

“Some estate agents report that movers are also now waiting for Budget clarity and anticipated cheaper mortgage rates later this year.”

Buying a house in a 'new town' is cheaper

The findings come after lender Halifax reported that house buyers could save up to £50,000 by purchasing a property in a new town built after the Second World War compared to elsewhere in the UK.

Halifax says the average house price in a new town is £300,656, as opposed to a UK average of £346,995.

Over the past 30 years, Halifax says the average price of a property in a new town, such as Milton Keynes, has jumped by 441 per cent, slightly behind the average for the whole of the UK at 454 per cent.

However, some new towns have seen significant property spikes. Crawley in West Sussex tops the list, with property prices surging by 543 per cent since 1994, from £63,712 to £409,836.

What is happening with house prices?

House prices rose by 1.5% in August, bringing the annual growth rate to 2.8%, according to official figures.

The average price of a property in the UK now sits at £293,000, an £8,000 uplift compared to a year ago.

The Land Registry index, which differs from the way Halifax calculates prices, shows that annual house price inflation was highest in the North West, where prices increased by 4.6% in the 12 months to August. The South West had the lowest annual inflation of all regions in England, with prices rising by just 0.8%.

Jeremy Leaf, estate agent and a former RICS residential chairman, says: “This most comprehensive of all house-price surveys, as it includes cash and mortgage transactions, demonstrates once again considerable market strength despite reflecting activity over the past three months at a time of economic and political turbulence.

Where have house prices risen the most?

The official house price index from the Land Registry and the Office for National Statistics reveals that of the four UK regions, values rose the fastest in Northern Ireland.

Average house prices in Northern Ireland jumped 6.4% over the past year to reach £185,000. This was followed by 5.4% growth in Scotland, with the average property now costing £200,000. In Wales, house prices rose 3.5% to reach £223,000. Meanwhile, in England prices increased 2.3% to £310,000.

In terms of English regions, the North West saw the fastest annual house price growth (4.6%), followed by Yorkshire and the Humber (4.4%), and then the West Midlands (2.6%).

The slowest house price inflation was seen in the South West (0.8%), followed by London at 1.4%. The average home in the capital now costs £531,212.

Chris is a freelance journalist, and was previously an editor and correspondent at the Financial Times as well as the business and money editor at The i Newspaper. He is also the author of the Virgin Money Maker, the personal finance guide published by Virgin Books, and has written for the BBC, The Wall Street Journal, The Independent, South China Morning Post, TimeOut, Barron's and The Guardian. He is a graduate in Economics.