MNI DATA ANALYSIS: UK House Prices Extend Gains: Halifax

--Halifax UK Aug House Prices +0.1% m/m; +1.9% 3m/3m; +3.7% 3my/y

     LONDON (MNI) - UK house price inflation accelerated in August, with

year-on-year growth picking up to 3.7%, up from 3.3% in July, according to data

from Halifax, the UK's leading mortgage provider.

     The more volatile monthly numbers also showed house price growth up, with

prices 0.1% in August after a strong rise of 1.4% in July. 

     On a quarterly basis, house prices rose 1.9% in the June-August period

relative to March-May. 

     "House prices picked up in August, with the annual rate of growth rising

from 3.3% to 3.7%," said Russell Galley, Managing Director at Halifax Community

Bank.

     Galley added that unemployment remaining low and a gradual pick-up in wages

is starting to feed through to household financing. "While the pace of

employment growth has recently slowed, a low unemployment rate and a gradual

pickup in wage growth are helping to support household finances. This has been

accompanied by interest rates still remaining at a historically low rate and a

stable, yet constrained, supply of new homes onto the market further supporting

house prices," he said. 

     The number of first-time buyers increased by around 3% in the first six

months of 2018 compared to the same period in 2017, the Halifax said. This

represents the sixth increase over a comparable period in the last seven years

and is the third time in a row that the number of first-time buyers topped

150,000. 

--MNI London Bureau; +44 203 865 3828; email: jai.lakhani@marketnews.com

--MNI London Bureau; tel: +44 203-586-2225; email: les.commons@marketnews.com

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