Halifax house prices -0.1% vs +0.1% m/m expected
Prior -0.1%

UK house prices dipped a little in May, with the average property price dropping to £298,806 compared with £299,251 in April. The annual growth continues to hold up by 0.5% though, reaffirming continued resilience in the market despite more challenging conditions.

Halifax notes that:

“Property price trends continue to reflect the uncertainty linked to developments in the Middle
East. Despite recent cuts to mortgage rates, higher inflation expectations have kept
borrowing costs above the level seen at the start of the year, continuing to stretch affordability
for many buyers and temper demand.

Even so, overall activity has held up well, reflecting the underlying resilience of the UK
housing market. Latest industry figures show transaction levels remain relatively stable,
suggesting buyers and sellers are still moving.”

Consumer sentiment and the inflation outlook will be two key things that will continue to impact housing demand and house price growth moving forward. So if the US-Iran conflict does drag on for longer, expect that to have a more (negative) profound impact on the market in due time.

But for now, it seems that housing market sentiment is still holding up quite decently in the second quarter of the year.