UK house prices fall in January
The average price of a home fell in January for the first time in five months, as inflation in the UK continued to slow.
Research from Nationwide indicates that prices fell by 0.1 per cent, coming down from £188,446 in January to £187,964, while annual house price growth slowed for the sixth consecutive month.
The amount of home loans that were approved in January was also below the six month average, standing at 60,786, a small rise from the 60,349 approved in December, according to figures released by the Bank of England.
Nationwide’s chief economist, Robert Gardner said: “Mortgage rates remain close to all-time lows and consumer confidence remains buoyant thanks to a further steady improvement in labour market conditions”.
However, the market has continued to cool and Nationwide has said that the catalyst for this could be the long-term decline in the number of young first-time buyers in the market. Between 2004 and 2014 the number of households where the main occupant is aged between 24 and 34 where the home is owned and not rented fell by 23 per cent, from 59 per cent to 36 per cent.
On the other hand, the number of people who are homeowners and have either managed to complete mortgage repayments or have bought a home mortgage-free overtook the number of people who own their property but are still making mortgage repayments.
With the general election approaching, most major political parties have outlined plans to get more young first-time buyers onto the property ladder using a housebuilding programme, while the current government has said that it will offer a discount of up to 20 per cent to first-time buyers as part of its ‘Starter Homes’ scheme.
Share this..
Related stories
Should UK base rates move higher?
As the Bank of England readies itself for a difficult period in the history of the UK economy there are concerns that inflation may well remain fairly strong in the short to medium term with the bank of England unable to increase base rates for fear of curtailing any possible short-term economic recovery. Against this backdrop there are growing calls for UK base rates to move slightly higher in th...
Read More48 UK firms paying less than minimum wage
24/03/2015 Ministers have named and shamed 48 UK firms, including a number of high street shops, who have failed to pay their employees the minimum wage. Government Ministers have claimed that the businesses owe their workers a total of £162,000 and face fines of up to £67,000. The companies that have been accused now have 28 days to respond to the allegations. Some notable employers...
Read MoreIs the quantitative easing program creating a new bubble?
Spencer Dale, the chief economist at the Bank of England, has today warned that overuse of the ongoing quantitative easing program could result in the creation of a new economic bubble in the UK. The problem would then be trying to deflate this bubble under controlled conditions without causing a significant downturn in the UK economy and effectively putting us back to square one.
T...
Marks & Spencer Christmas sales disappoint
In this new period of renewed hope for the UK retail sector a major setback occurred today with news that Marks & Spencer festive sales were up by just 0.8% in the three months to Boxing Day. This is a far less impressive performance compared to the likes of John Lewis and Next and today we saw the share price of Marks & Spencer fall on investors disappointment. So what does this mean for the UK r...
Read MoreTrade deficit at ten-month high
The UK's deficit on trade in goods reached its highest level since May 2006 in March, official data has revealed.According to the Office of National Statistics (ONS) the country's overspend on goods was £7 billion in March, compared to the upwardly revised figure of £6.9 billion in the preceding month.Britain's surplus on services meanwhile stood at £2.5 billion in the third month of the year,...
Read More