Nationwide Building society releases their Quarterly regional house price update with a positive outlook for home owners across the UK.
The statement went on to say:
Strong end to the year for UK house prices
UK house prices are up 4.7% year-on-year in December
Northern regions see a higher price growth than southern regions
Northern Ireland is the best performing area for the second year running, with prices up 7.1% over 2024
East Anglia is the weakest performing region, with prices up 0.5% over the year
Mortgage market activity and house prices proved surprisingly resilient in 2024 given the ongoing affordability challenges facing potential buyers. At the start of the year, house prices remained high relative to average earnings, which meant that the deposit hurdle remained high for prospective first-time buyers. This is a challenge that had been made worse by record rates of rental growth in recent years, which has hampered the ability of many in the private rented sector to save.
Moreover, for many of those with sufficient savings for a deposit, meeting monthly payments was a stretch because borrowing costs remained well above those prevailing in the aftermath of the pandemic. For example, a typical mortgage rate for someone with a 25 per cent deposit hovered around 4.5% for much of the year, three times the 1.5% prevailing in late 2021, before the Bank of England started to raise the Bank Rate.
As a result, it was encouraging that activity levels in the housing market increased over the course of 2024 with the number of mortgages approved for house purchase each month rising above pre-pandemic levels towards the end of the year.
Robert Gardner, Nationwide’s Chief Economist went on to say:
“UK house prices ended 2024 on a strong footing, up 4.7% compared with December 2023, though prices were still just below the all-time high recorded in summer 2022.”
Nations summary table
| Nations | Average price (Q4 2024) | Annual % chg this quarter | Quarterly % chg |
|---|---|---|---|
| N Ireland | £197,696 | 7.1% | 2.1% |
| Scotland | £187,016 | 4.4% | 1.9% |
| England | £305,399 | 3.1% | 1.3% |
| Wales | £207,187 | 2.7% | 0.9% |
Great analysis from the provider and hopefully a positive start for 2025.
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