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House prices dip in November but more ‘robust’ growth expected

That slowed the annual rise in prices in the three months to November to 9.0 percent from 9.7 percent growth in October.

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The average cost of a home fell to an average of 204,552 pounds (S$431,605), the mortgage unit of Lloyds Banking Group Plc said in a statement on Tuesday.

Prices in the three months to November were 9.0 per cent higher than in the same three months a year earlier.

“Solid economic growth, rising real earnings and falls in already very low mortgage rates have combined to stimulate housing demand this year”, Martin Ellis, Halifax housing economist, said. “A situation that is unlikely to reverse significantly in the short-term”, the economist added.

Meanwhile, sales in the three months to October were 4.7% higher than in the same three months in 2014.

Critics said November’s blip was simply a seasonal anomaly and prices are on course to race higher come 2016, amid record low supply, cheap mortgages and and rising wages.

Howard Archer, chief United Kingdom and European economist at IHS Global Insight, said: ‘The Halifax data have been notably more volatile than other house price measures in recent months and much stronger overall than most.

With a rate hike now expected in late 2016, prices have also been pushed up by a rash of buyers seeking to have mortgages approved before interest rates increase. The shortage of properties poses a significant upside risks to these forecasts’.

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“New instructions by home sellers fell in October for the ninth successive month (and the 14th in the last 15). But while this is the first time in 2015 that quarterly price rises have dipped below 2 per cent, there is plenty of momentum left at nearly all price points in the market”.

House buyer browsing at estate agent's window