Halifax House Price Index June 2021

Annual house price growth slowed to 8.8% in June from 9.6% in the previous month according to Halifax, as the stamp duty tax break starts to unwind from July.

On a month-on-month basis, prices dipped for the first time since January, down by 0.5% in June, with the average house price coming in at £260,358 – down from May’s record high, but still £21,000 ahead of last year.

Source: Halifax, IHS Markit

Rival Nationwide reported that house prices accelerated to 13.4% year-on-year in June and rose 0.7% month-on-month.

Provisional data from HMRC shows that the number of house transactions cooled again in May compared to April, down by 8.7% to 103,100 transactions (non-seasonally adjusted). But this is more than double the 46,150 sales a year earlier during the first lockdown.

Halifax expects upward pressure on house prices to continue despite the phasing out of the temporary stamp duty reduction between July and October this year, as mortgage rates remain low, the supply of houses for sale remains weak, and preferences shift to wanting more space.

But, Halifax expects annual growth to weaken by the end of the year, with unemployment expected to rise and the peak of buyer demand now likely to have passed.

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