UK house prices rose for the second month in a row in November, boosted by a shortage of properties, says the Halifax..

House prices rose 0.5 per cent on the month following a 1.2 per cent increase in October and after six consecutive declines. On an annual basis, prices were down just one per cent in November, following a 3.1 per cent drop in October.

Kim Kinnaird, director of Halifax Mortgages, says: “The resilience seen in house prices during 2023 continues to be underpinned by a shortage of properties available, rather than any significant strengthening of buyer demand. That said, recent figures for mortgage approvals suggest a slight uptick in activity levels, which is likely as a result of an improving picture on affordability for homebuyers. 

“With mortgage rates starting to ease slightly, this may be leading to increased buyer confidence, seeing people more inclined to push ahead with their home purchases.

“However, the economic conditions remain uncertain, making it hard to assess the extent to which market activity will be maintained. Other pressures – like inflation, the broader cost of living, overall employment rates and affordability – mean we expect to see downward pressure on house prices into next year.”

Jeremy Leaf, north London estate agent and a former RICS residential chairman, responds to the result and says: “Shortage of stock is supporting house prices. There is no doubt either that recent falls in inflation and mortgage rates as well as the continuing strong employment figures have improved confidence in the market. The other point to bear in mind is that these figures don’t include the approximate 35 per cent of buyers who don’t need a mortgage and are negotiating hardest at present, taking advantage of their stronger bargaining position.

“Looking forward, we expect the market to continue to confound so-called ‘expert’ opinions of a larger decline but certainly no great increases either particularly bearing in mind the number of fixed-rate mortgages which are due to end next year.”

And the director of Benham and Reeves, Marc von Grundherr, comments: “Despite a turbulent year, we look set to finish pretty much where we started with respect to house price performance and this is certainly no bad thing given that property values boomed during the pandemic. 

“While this may seem a tad underwhelming for the nation’s home sellers, they can enter the market with the confidence that their home will continue to command a very strong price indeed and we’ve already seen many make the decision to do so in recent weeks.”