Homebuyers who have been struggling to find a property they can afford, due to soaring house prices, will be pleased to hear they dropped slightly last month.
Halifax has reported the first decline in house prices since June 2021, despite quarterly and annual increases of 3.3 per cent and 11.8 per cent respectively.
Although values only dipped by 0.1 per cent in July, this could be a sign the property market is beginning to cool.
Russell Galley, managing director for Halifax, stated: “A slowdown in annual house price growth has been expected for some time.”
He added: “Leading indicators of the housing market have recently shown a softening of activity, while rising borrowing costs are adding to the squeeze on households’ budgets against a backdrop of exceptionally high house price-to-income ratios.”
Despite the decline, the average property value in the UK is as high as £293,221, which is more than £30,000 higher than one year ago.
What’s more, the monthly increase in June 2022 was 1.4 per cent, which follows three months of high growth rates.
First-time buyers (FTBs) will be particularly relieved to hear the latest figures could be a sign the housing bubble is about to burst, as Rightmove recently reported FTB asking prices have risen three times faster in the last 12 months (13 per cent) than the previous two years (four per cent).
Consequently, they now need £2,560 more for a ten per cent deposit than they did before the pandemic, while their average monthly mortgage payments have increased by 22 per cent.
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