UK annual house price rise eases to 10.8% – Halifax

div classBodysc17zpet90 cdBBJodivpLONDON Reuters – British house prices rose for a tenth consecutive month in April, although the annual rate of growth eased slightly from the 15year high recorded in March, figures from mortgage lender Halifax showed on Friday.p

pHouse prices increased by a hefty 1.1 on the month, down from 1.5 in March, and were 10.8 higher in April than a year earlier, just below the peak of 11.2 recorded in February, which was the largest annual increase since June 2007.pdivdivdiv classBodysc17zpet90 cdBBJodiv

pHouse prices so far have shown little sign of being affected by the costofliving squeeze caused by consumer price inflation rising to a 30year high of 7.0, despite increasing affordability challenges as prices outstrip pay growth.p

pBut this may soon change, as the Bank of England forecast on Thursday inflation would exceed 10 by the end of this year and the economy would shrink sharply in the final three months of 2022.p

pThe BoE raised interest rates by a quarter point on Thursday to 1, and financial markets see rates rising to 2 or more by December.p

p“The headwinds facing the wider economy cannot be ignored,” Halifax managing director Russell Galley said.p

p“The house price to income ratio is already at its highestever 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,” he added.