Average UK house price hits £187,995
Published On 8 December 2006
The average UK house price rose by 1.7 per cent in November hitting the £187,995 mark, new figures have shown.Halifax Bank's latest market survey discovered annual house price inflation rose by 9.6 per cent in November – positive growth for the market despite recent interest rate rises by the Bank of England.
Although the market has shown growth, Halifax believes this will cool over the coming months.
Martin Ellis, Halifax chief economist, said: "The marked slowing in real average earnings growth over the past six months and a squeeze on households' discretionary income due to substantial increases in utility bills during the last year, should temper housing demand.
"As a result, we expect house price inflation to ease over the coming months."
Bank of England figures have shown that 128,000 new mortgages were approved for property buyers in November.
Milan Khatri, Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors spokesman, said: "House prices are now up more than six per cent in the space of just four months.
"Prices for first-time buyer properties are rising more quickly than the rest of the market and are up almost three times as fast as average wages, squeezing buyer affordability."
