Annual house price growth slowed in July but remained high at 8.3%, new figures show.
The data from the Office for National Statistics revealed that annual house price growth fell 1.4% from June’s figure of 9.7%.
Monthly house prices rose by 0.4%, taking the average property value in the UK to £216,750.
The East of England remained the area with the highest property value growth over the last 12 months with a movement of 13.2%.
London saw an annual price increase of 12.3% to £484,716.
The lowest growth was in Yorkshire and The Humber, where prices increased 4.7% over the year.
Howard Archer, chief UK economist at IHS Global Insight, said that with the economy resilient following June’s Brexit vote house prices were now expected to remain flat over the final months of 2016.
“However, we still believe that a dip in house prices is likely in 2017, probably by around 3% to 5%,” he said.
The housing market has progressively slowed following a boom in borrowing in the run-up to April’s stamp duty hike as buyers brought forward transactions to beat the deadline.
It has also been hit by uncertainty over the impact of the EU referendum, with many buyers adopting a more cautious approach and putting off purchases.
Jeremy Leaf, north London estate agent and a former RICS residential chairman, said: “This is the first official post-referendum house price data and although it is a little dated it is reflecting what we have seen from other surveys and on the ground – that the pace of price growth has been slowing. We expect this to continue, particularly in London compared with the rest of the country in coming months.
“It is surprising that the index does not record more of a slowdown in price growth. On the ground we are finding that people are showing more caution than this although there is an underlying determination to get on with moving. People are negotiating hard and we expect that to be reflected in future surveys.”
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