The quarterly rate of house price growth remained below 2% for the second successive month, new figures show.
According to the latest Halifax House Price Index, house prices in the three months to December were 1.6% higher than the previous quarter.
Martin Ellis, Halifax housing economist, said this indicated “a possible slight softening in the underlying rate of price growth”.
“There remains, however, a substantial gap between demand and supply with the latest figures showing a further decline in the number of properties available for sale. This situation is unlikely to change significantly in the short term, resulting in continuing upward pressure on prices.”
Prices in the three months to December were 9.5% higher than the same time a year earlier.
The average price of a house was £208,286.
Home sales during September to November were up 5.2% higher than the same three months last year.
Jeremy Leaf, former RICS chairman and north London estate agent, said any slowdown in the market was likely to be a “short-term blip” as investors will be looking to complete by April to avoid paying higher stamp duty.
He said: “While there is much speculation that landlords will be selling up in their droves because of recent changes to buy-to-let, where would they go? You can’t get much better returns than you can on buy-to-let once capital growth and income are taken into account. Those considering entering the sector may think twice but existing landlords are in it for the long haul and will take it in their stride.”
Mark Harris, chief executive of mortgage broker SPF Private Clients, said: ‘The January sales have kicked off in the mortgage market with Virgin Money, Nationwide, HSBC and Skipton reducing their rates in recent days. While several lenders hiked their mortgage rates before Christmas, leading to fears that the cheapest deals are behind us, this was more to do with slowing down business over the festive period. The good news for borrowers is that lenders are likely to price aggressively in coming weeks in order to get off to a fast start.
“With the housing market expected to be buzzing as landlords opt to expand their portfolios now rather than waiting until the stamp duty hike in April, buy-to-let lenders are also likely to be extremely busy.”
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