On an month on month basis prices increased by 1.1% in January while prices in the three months to January were 7.3% higher than in the same three months a year earlier. This was marginally lower than December’s figure of 7.5%.
The report points out that a lack of supply coming on to the market is adding upward pressure on prices at a time when the number of home owners providing instructions to put their property on the market for sale has increased only marginally.
‘With the supply of properties being slow to respond to more buoyant market conditions, stronger demand has resulted in continued upward pressure on house prices, said Halifax housing economist Martin Ellis.
‘Demand has increased against a background of low interest rates and higher consumer confidence underpinned by signs that the economy is recovering and unemployment falling faster than expected,’ he explained.
‘Official schemes, such as Help to Buy, also appear to have boosted housing demand. However, continuing pressures on household finances, as earnings fail to keep pace with consumer price inflation, are expected to remain a constraint on the rate of growth of house prices,’ he added.
