UK house prices edge higher in Aug on rise in taxes, sectoral recovery continues to be lacklustre

Housing prices in the United Kingdom edged slightly higher during the month of August, following the recent rise in taxes; however, the property sector continued to experience a dusty recovery in the wake of post-Brexit scenario.

The average value of a home rose just 0.1 percent, the same pace as in July, to 292,921 pounds ($390,000), the groups said in a report published on Tuesday. It left prices 4.3 percent higher than a year earlier, the weakest annual increase for three years.

However, house price inflation across the UK fell to 8.3 percent in the year to July, down from 9.7 percent in June, data released by the Office for National Statistics showed Tuesday. The eastern region of England remains the area with the fastest growing prices. The annual rate of inflation there was 13.2 percent. Prices in London grew at 12.3 percent, although they fell in parts of Central London, like Hammersmith and Fulham.

Further, the number of housing transactions rose 2.6 percent to 78,000 in August, down 6.8 percent from a year earlier. Overall average prices are now 1.4 percent below a record reached in February. Separate data from the ONS showed that house-price inflation slowed to an annual 8.3 percent in July, from 9.7 percent a month earlier.

Moreover, values fell 0.5 percent in London in July as declines in the city’s most expensive boroughs outweighed gains in more affordable outer areas, the groups said. Meanwhile, Nationwide has highlighted that demand for mortgages has fallen, hitting an 18-month low in July and instructions to sell properties are also weaker, suggesting prices are so far being held up by a lack of supply on the market, reports said.