Strongest growth in house price

• House prices edged up 0.3% in August, with annual growth rising to 4.3%, the fastest pace since late 2022. However, this is partly due to the comparison with weaker growth this time last year.

• Buyer confidence has been boosted since the Bank of England rate cut at the beginning of August and mortgage rates trending downwards. 37% of property professionals expect sales prices to increase in the next 3 months, with 1.4% house price change now predicted through 2024, up from -2.2% this time last year.

• However price growth is likely to remain constrained by affordability, which remains a significant challenge for many potential buyers. Source: Dataloft by PriceHubble (poll of subscribers), Halifax, HM Treasury Average of Independent Forecasts