Rightmove, Savills Edge Lower as UK House Prices Slip in September

Housing stocks such as Rightmove, Savills, Purplebricks, Redrow, and Barratt Developments edged lower in early Friday trading after the Halifax house price index revealed UK house prices were down marginally in September.

Last month, UK house prices slipped 0.1%, compared to a 0.3% rise in August, with the cost of a typical home being £293,835, falling from the record high of £293,992 in August.

The decline came as a surprise as the forecast was for a 1% increase in the month, according to the Trading Economics calendar.

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On an annual basis, UK house prices increased by 9.9%. However, that slowed from the 11.4% annual growth reported in August. The forecasted number was 11.1%, although consensus expectations were around 9.8%,

“The events of the last few weeks have led to greater economic uncertainty, however in reality house prices have been largely flat since June, up by around £250. This compares to a rise of more than £10,000 during the Average house price £293,835 Monthly change -0.1% Quarterly change +1.3% Annual change +9.9% previous quarter, suggesting the housing market may have already entered a more sustained period of slower growth,” stated Kim Kinnaird, Director of Halifax Mortgages.

Kinnaird added that a further fall is expected:

“While stamp duty cuts, the short supply of homes for sale and a strong labour market all support house prices, the prospect of interest rates continuing to rise sharply amid the cost of living squeeze, plus the impact in recent weeks of higher mortgage borrowing costs on affordability, are likely to exert more significant downward pressure on house prices in the months ahead.”

Rightmove was one of the biggest fallers amongst housing market stocks on Friday, down over 2% at the time of writing.