UK house prices post biggest jump since 2004: Nationwide

[LONDON] UK house prices jumped at the fastest annual pace since 2004 in March, as the nation's property market continued to defy the wider cost of living crisis.

Prices jumped 14.3 per cent from a year earlier, taking the average value to a record £265,312 (S$471,535), Nationwide Building Society reported Thursday (Mar 31). In March alone, prices rose 1.1 per cent. Both figures were above economists' forecasts.

UK home prices have risen for 8 consecutive months, and now stand 21 per cent higher than they were before the pandemic struck. While some forecasters expected gains to slow in 2022 as higher inflation and interest rates squeeze budgets, the surge is currently showing no signs of letting up.

"The housing market has retained a surprising amount of momentum given the mounting pressure on household budgets and the steady rise in borrowing costs," said Robert Gardner, Nationwide's chief economist.

Successive pandemic lockdowns allowed homebuyers to save deposits, while the tight labour market also contributed to the market's buoyancy, Nationwide said. Economists at the building society estimated that households accrued £190 billion in extra deposits more than pre-Covid levels, though this was concentrated among older, wealthier households.

With the "race for space" continuing, whereby owners of flats seek to move to bigger houses, a gap has opened between the price of each, making it harder for people to transition. That price gap is now at a record high.

Still, if the Bank of England adds to its 3-straight rate rises, and this feeds through to mortgage rates, this could drag on the market as a whole, Nationwide said. BLOOMBERG