Annual house price growth in the United Kingdom slowed further “sharply” in December, financial institution Nationwide said on Friday, adding that in the last month of 2022 prices also posted their worst run since 2008 on a monthly basis.
In annual terms, house price growth slowed to 2.8 percent in December from 4.4 percent in November, Nationwide said, compared with 2.3 percent growth forecast in a Reuters poll.
Nationwide said prices fell 0.1% in December compared with November, the fourth straight monthly price drop and the worst streak since the financial crisis. A Reuters poll of economists pointed to a 0.7 percent drop.
“Although financial market conditions have stabilized, mortgage rates are taking longer to normalize and activity in the housing market has shown little sign of recovery,” Robert Gardner, chief economist at Nationwide, said in a statement.
“It will be difficult for the market to regain much momentum in the near term as economic headwinds strengthen, with real incomes poised to fall further and the labor market widely projected to weaken as the economy contracts.”
