"For another consecutive month, the housing market proved its resilience despite ongoing fears around Brexit, with house prices continuing their steady upward climb."
The average UK house price was £219,000 in August 2016 - £17,000 higher than in August 2015 and £3,000 higher than last month.
The East of England is the region which showed the highest annual growth, with prices increasing by 13.3% in the year to August 2016. Growth in the South East was second highest at 12.2%, followed by London at 12.1%. The lowest annual growth was in the North East, where prices increased by 3.0% over the year.
The Index stated that "housing market indicators for August suggested a period of relative stability during the month".
In terms of housing demand, the volume of lending approvals for house purchases fell slightly in August compared to July, remaining at levels seen in early 2015. Home sales in the UK stayed stable between July and August but remain below levels seen in 2014, 2015 and before the stamp duty changes in early 2016.
John Goodall, CEO and co-founder of peer to peer platform Landbay, commented: “For another consecutive month, the housing market proved its resilience despite ongoing fears around Brexit, with house prices continuing their steady upward climb. The decision to slash interest rates at the beginning of August boosted mortgage lending and with another cut expected in the coming months we could see a further uptick in prices, as buyers take advantage of the lowest borrowing costs we’ve ever seen."
Ishaan Malhi, CEO and founder of online mortgage adviser Trussle, added: “It’s been a rather blurred picture for house price growth since the Brexit vote, with several of the UK’s major lenders coming to very different conclusions about price movement in August. The latest ONS data has shed a little more light on this, reporting an 1.3% rise in prices for the month, suggesting that the immediate commotion caused by the EU result has yet to put the brakes on price growth in the market.
“A shortage of supply remains the core reason for the continued growth in prices, but the small upturn in August could also be down to a surge in demand following August’s interest rate cut. For those with a deposit saved, buying a home has become that little bit more affordable through cheaper mortgage rates, but it’s crucial that people do their due diligence and choose a lender that's passing on the full benefit of the rate cut to its borrowers.”
