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Annual UK house price growth slowed slightly in February, with the market remaining ‘resilient’ in the face of ‘affordability challenges’, numbers on Friday showed. According to mortgage lender Nationwide, UK house prices rose 3.9% on-year this month, the pace of growth fading from 4.1% in January. On a monthly basis, prices rose 0.4% in February, after a 0.1% improvement in January from December. It is the sixth successive monthly rise in prices. ‘Housing market activity has also remained resilient in recent months, despite ongoing affordability challenges. Indeed, the second half of 2024 saw a noticeable pick up in total housing transactions, which were up 14% compared with the same period in 2023. However, taking 2024 as a whole, transactions were still modestly, 6%, lower than the levels prevailing before the pandemic struck in 2019,’ Nationwide analyst Robert Gardner commented. ‘In terms of the pattern of transactions, it is notable that first-time buyer activity continued to recover, with mortgage completions in 2024 just 5% below 2019 levels. This represents a solid performance, given the interest rate environment for example, five-year fixed mortgage rates are currently around 4.4% (for borrowers with a 25% deposit) compared to 2% in 2019.’ Gardner expects changes to stamp duty in April to lead to some housing market ‘volatility’. From the end of March, the temporary increase in the zero-rate stamp duty thresholds will end. For first-time buyers of a home under £500,000, the zero-rate band falls to £300,000 from £425,000 currently. For other home buyers, the threshold is to be reduced to £125,000 from £250,000. The measures were announced by UK Chancellor Rachel Reeves in the October autumn budget. Copyright 2025 Alliance News Ltd. All Rights Reserved.
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