Halifax House Price Index May 19

House price growth continued to accelerate in May according to the latest data from the Halifax, up 5.2% (quarterly, non-seasonally adjusted, year-on-year). This is against a weak comparison a year earlier when house prices rose 1.9%. On a month-on-month basis, house prices rose 0.5%, slowing on April’s monthly rise of 1.2%.

Halifax’s house price growth continues to diverge from Nationwide’s measure, which slowed in May, rising just 0.6%, year-on-year.

Source: Halifax, Markit

On a quarterly basis, which smooths out distortions, house prices rose 2.5%, slowing on the 4.2% rise in April. The average house price edged up to £237,837, improving on the previous month.

Whilst the Halifax points to supportive factors such as the low unemployment rate and lower interest rates, overall activity in the housing market remains fairly muted. Recent mortgage approval data from the Bank of England, a lead indicator of future activity, showed a 3.8% rise, year-on-year. That said, other data sources remain subdued, coupled with ongoing political and economic uncertainty, little change in activity is expected in the near term.

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