Northern Ireland house prices: Record highs across the UK but signs of a slowdown as mortgages fall back

The average UK house price hit a new record high in June but there are “tentative signs of a slowdown”, according to an index.
The average UK house price hit a new record high in June but there are "tentative signs of a slowdown", according to an index.The average UK house price hit a new record high in June but there are "tentative signs of a slowdown", according to an index.
The average UK house price hit a new record high in June but there are "tentative signs of a slowdown", according to an index.

Prices were up by 10.7% in June, slowing from 11.2% in May, Nationwide Building Society said.

Across the UK, the average house price in June was £271,613, up by 0.3% month on month.

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Robert Gardner, Nationwide’s chief economist, said: “The price of a typical UK home climbed to a new record high of £271,613, with average prices increasing by over £26,000 in the past year.

“There are tentative signs of a slowdown, with the number of mortgages approved for house purchases falling back towards pre-pandemic levels in April and surveyors reporting some softening in new buyer inquiries.

“Nevertheless, the housing market has retained a surprising amount of momentum given the mounting pressure on household budgets from high inflation, which has already driven consumer confidence to a record low.

“Part of the resilience is likely to reflect the current strength of the labour market, where the number of job vacancies has exceeded the number of unemployed people in recent months.”

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Mr Gardner said that, at the same time, the stock of homes on the market has remained low, keeping an upward pressure on house prices.

“The market is expected to slow further as pressure on household finances intensifies in the coming quarters, with inflation expected to reach double digits towards the end of the year.

“Moreover, the Bank of England is widely expected to raise interest rates further, which will also exert a cooling impact on the market if this feeds through to mortgage rates.”

Looking across the UK, Mr Gardner said quarterly figures showed a softening of house price growth in many regions in the three months to June.

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“The South West (of England) overtook Wales as the strongest-performing region in quarter two, with house prices up 14.7% year on year, a slight increase from the previous quarter.

“This was closely followed by East Anglia, where annual price growth remained at 14.2%.

“Wales saw a slowing in annual price growth to 13.4%, from 15.3% in the first quarter.

“Price growth in Northern Ireland was similar to last quarter at 11.0%. Meanwhile, Scotland saw a 9.5% year-on-year rise in house prices.

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“There was a slowing in annual house price growth in England to 10.7%, from 11.6% in the previous quarter.

“While the South West was the strongest performing region, overall southern England saw weaker growth than northern England.

“London remained the weakest-performing UK region, with annual price growth slowing to 6.0%, from 7.4% in the previous quarter.”

The average house prices in the second quarter of 2022 followed by the annual increase in prices in Northern Ireland, according to Nationwide Building Society was £181,550, 11.0%

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