UK average house prices rise to £285,579

Halifax said on Friday that the average UK house price had risen £12,801 to £285,579, while annual house price growth was up 4.7% in the year to November.

Halifax said the UK housing market was "buoyant" in the first half of 2022, with pandemic-driven shifts in housing preferences and low interest rates keeping transaction demand elevated and leading to annual house price growth peaking at 12.5% in June - the strongest rate of annual growth since January 2005.

Average property prices were 19.4% higher at £46,403 than at the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic, after hitting a new record high average property price of £293,992 in August, while the typical UK house price increased by 71% over the last decade - a rise of £118,953.

The North East of England saw the highest rate of annual property price inflation of any UK region or nation, while the South East of England recorded the biggest price increase, up by £28,068 over the last 12 months.

London recorded the slowest rate of annual house price growth at 5.2% but at £549,160, the capital was still the most expensive average UK property price by far.

Halifax added that with unemployment expected to rise and reach around 5.5%, the bank also expects UK house prices to decrease by roughly 8% next year but noted that there was still "uncertainty" around this forecast, with the trajectory for base rate and unemployment levels key to determining any future changes.

Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com