October sees strong house price rise

House prices rose 0.7% in October taking the average cost of a home as measured by the Nationwide above a quarter of a million pounds for the first time.

The mortgage lender said the October jump in prices took annual inflation to 9.9% in the month, marginally down on the 10% recorded in September, and meant prices have risen more than £30k on average since the start of the pandemic.

The continuing growth in prices comes despite growing fears over the economy and chancellor Rishi Sunak having totally withdrawn the post-pandemic cut in stamp duty in stages between June and September.

Robert Gardner, Nationwide’s chief economist, said demand for homes remained strong, but that the outlook for the market was “extremely uncertain”.

He said market could remain strong if the labour market remained resilient, but that a number of factors, including weakening consumer confidence, and the response of the wider economy to the withdrawal of government support measures, could see the market cool.

“Even if wider economic conditions continue to improve, rising interest rates may exert a cooling influence on the market,” he said.