Brian Murphy, Head of Lending for Mortgage Advice Bureau comments on the Nationwide House Price Index:
“The report issued by the Nationwide this morning is based on lending for house purchases at post survey approvals stage, and as such provides us with a reliable insight into the UK housing market from one of the country’s biggest mortgage lenders.
This morning’s figures for both September and the last quarter make, for the most part at least, relatively positive reading. The stable headline figure of growth falls squarely within market expectations for 2018 as per forecasts from the beginning of this year. However, the regional figures for the quarter highlight the ongoing variances at play, and support what we’ve observed in our own data across the course of this year so far, which is a ‘two tier’ market of some regions, such as Yorkshire and Humberside and the East Midlands, performing exceptionally well whilst London and the South East prices are still seeing prices in reverse gear. Of course, any impact that the potential introduction of additional Stamp Duty on overseas buyers on investment property is likely to be more keenly felt in the capital, however how much of a bearing it will have in real terms is potentially up for debate.
Overall though, this morning’s figures should provide a degree of reassurance, as they appear to point towards the housing market continuing to function at a healthy level so far this year, despite the ongoing political and economic headwinds. The fact that the Bank of England’s decision to raise interest rates in August seems to have had little impact on the environment overall, probably due to the fact that it was so well signposted, is both a reflection of buyer demand in many areas and the competitive rates still offered by lenders, affording those who are purchasing currently the opportunity to take advantage of near-historically low rates of borrowing.”