U.K. House Price Sentiment Rises At Slower Rate In July
The U.K 's current house prices sentiment rose in July, although at a slower pace than in June, results of a survey by Knight Frank and Markit Economics showed Friday. The house price sentiment index, an indicator of house price trends, came in at 62.4 in July, a slight decrease from the 62.5 reading in the previous month. Any reading above 50 indicates rise in prices and this month's reading marked the sixteenth consecutive month of increase in house prices. The index rose in all the surveyed regions, with London showing the steepest increase as the index came in at 70.5 in July. The index was at 69.7 in the South East region and 68.3 in the East of England region. The future house price sentiment index, measuring the expectations of house prices, inched up to 71.7 in July from 71.6 in June. This was above the recent 75.1 peak reading, indicating that a more modest rise in prices is expected. However, the rate at which house prices are expected to rise eased in five of the eleven surveyed regions. Future price rise expectations decline in London, as the index decreased to 76.8 in July. This was notably lower than April's peak reading of 83.1. Those who own their home outright are the most confident that prices will rise over the next year. "There is increasing evidence that momentum in the housing market may be starting to ease, with expectations for future price rises remaining near six-month lows." said Gr?inne Gilmore, head of UK residential research at Knight Frank. "Increased discussion about interest rate rises may be taking some of the steam out of the market, as well as new mortgage rules which are serving to slow down the lending process, and make it trickier for buyers to climb onto the housing ladder, especially in areas where house price to income ratios are at their highest."
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