UK House Prices Stalls in November, Halifax Reports

The UK housing market experienced a slowdown in November, with house prices remaining flat, down from October's 0.5% gain, according to Halifax. On an annual basis, house price growth slowed to 0.7%, the weakest rate since March 2024, largely due to stronger house price growth a year ago. Nationwide reported a 0.3% rise in November, with annual growth slowing to 1.8%. Amanda Bryden, head of mortgages at Halifax, attributed the slowdown to uncertainty ahead of the Autumn Budget. However, she expects property prices to grow gradually next year, supported by steady activity and interest rate cuts by the Bank of England. Bryden said affordability is now the strongest since 2015, and expects property prices to grow gradually next year. The BoE is widely forecast to lower borrowing costs by 25 basis points to 3.75% in December.