UK house prices rose 1.7pc in January from December, according to the latest monthly survey from the Nationwide Building Society. House prices were up 26.0pc on a year-on-year basis in January, Nationwide said. The Nationwide noted that January's 1.7pc increase in home prices was close to the average 1.8pc rise of the past three months. It forecast that the year-on-year inflation rate for homes "will remain around 25pc for the next couple of months," with price increases slowing later in the year. In November, the Nationwide Building Society said it expected the UK property market to cool this year due to higher mortgage rates and unemployment levels, with prices to rise by just 10pc.
The Nationwide's figures contradict a report published by Rightmove.co.uk, which in mid-January said that UK house prices would record an unadjusted drop of 0.4pc for the first month of the year Rightmove's report also dismissed talk of a crash in the property market, saying that "record store traffic on Rightmove.co.uk just after the New Year gives reason to believe that there is plenty of pent-up demand out there" //www.fxcentre.com