FX.co ★ UK House Prices Continue To Rise In April: Halifax

UK house prices increased for the tenth consecutive month in April, marking the longest streak of growth since the end of 2016, survey data from the Llyods Bank subsidiary Halifax showed Friday.

House prices gained 1.1 percent month-on-month in April, slower than the 1.5 percent increase seen in March. The monthly rate was forecast to ease to 0.7 percent. Average property price reached another new record high of GBP 286,079.

However, the increase in house price growth is expected to slow further due to the squeezed household budgets.

Halifax Managing Director Russell Galley said demand in the housing market remains firm and mortgage servicing costs are relatively stable with fixed-rate deals making up around 80 percent of mortgages on homes across the industry, protecting many households from the effects of rate rises so far.

Nonetheless, Galley noted that the headwinds facing the wider economy cannot be ignored.

The house price to income ratio is already at its highest ever level, and with interest rates on the rise and inflation further squeezing household budgets, it remains likely that the rate of house price growth will slow by the end of this year.

House prices grew 10.8 percent on year in April, following March's 11.1 percent rise.

The current rate of growth raises the prospect of a typical home hitting GBP 300,000 by the end of this year. Nonetheless, Halifax said such a prospect remains unlikely given the forecast economic conditions.

According to Nationwide Building Society, house price inflation slowed for the first time in six months in April. Prices grew 12.1 percent annually in April, down from 12.3 percent in March.

In order to combat rising inflation, the Bank of England had raised its key interest rate by 25 basis points to 1.00 percent, on Thursday. Early this week, the BoE data showed that the actual interest rate paid on newly drawn mortgages increased to a six-month high of 1.73 percent in March.