House prices up in July
According to the Nationwide house prices rose on a month on month basis by 0.4% in July, that was in line with with forecasts and followed a fall of 0.2% the previous month of June. Annual growth was also up from 3.3% in June to 3.5% in July.
Nationwide economist Robert Gardner reportedly said “After moderating over the past 12 months, there are tentative signs that annual house price growth may be stabilising close to the pace of earnings growth, which has historically been around 4 percent,”
He added “This would bode well for a sustainable increase in housing market activity, though whether this will be maintained will depend on whether building activity can keep pace with increasing demand. The number of new homes under construction has started to pick up, albeit from historically low levels, and further increases are required if a sustainable recovery in the housing market is to be maintained over the longer term,”