House prices up 2% in November

Political and economic uncertainty appeared to have little impact on house prices last month, which increased by more than 2% year on year, according to the latest Halifax index.

The looming general election does not appear to have dented growth and November saw a 1% rise compared with October, when prices fell 0.1%.

The 1% increase is the highest month on month rise since February this year, when they rose by 1.5%.

Year-on-year house prices rose 2.1% last month.

The average house in the UK cost £234,625 in November, up 1% on October and the highest average figure in 12 months.

In the latest quarter (September to November), prices were 0.2% higher than in the previous three months (June to August), the Halifax said.

Russell Galley, Halifax’s managing director, said that prices were up by £3,904 since the start of the year.

“While a degree of uncertainty remains evident, it’s also clear that buyers and sellers are responding to factors such as improved mortgage affordability and the limited supply of available properties.

“It is these issues which we believe will continue to underpin the resilience evident in the market for most of 2019. Over the medium term we expect the emerging trend of modest gains to continue into next year,” he added.