Average UK home tops £250,000 for first time

House price growth in October was 0.7% month on month, taking the annual figure to 9.9% according to Nationwide. This takes the average price past the quarter of a million pounds watermark for the first time. 

Nationwide's figures show an average price of £250,311. Ten years ago it stood at £167,757, an increase of 50% over a decade. The monthly increase of 0.7% comes despite the end of the stamp duty holiday at the end of September.

Nationwide's numbers for October

• Annual house price growth remained elevated at 9.9% in October
• Prices up 0.7% month-on-month
• Average property price up by more than £30k since the pandemic struck

	October 2021	September 2021
Monthly Change	+0.7%	+0.2%
Annual change	+9.9%	+10.0%
Average Price ​Not seasonally adjusted	£250,311	£248,742

Demand for homes has remained strong, despite the expiry of the stamp duty holiday at the end of September. Indeed, mortgage applications remained robust at 72,645 in September, more than 10% above the monthly average recorded in 2019. Combined with a lack of homes on the market, this helps to explain why price growth has remained robust.

The outlook remains extremely uncertain. If the labour market remains resilient, conditions may stay fairly buoyant in the coming months – especially as the market continues to have momentum and there is scope for ongoing shifts in housing preferences as a result of the pandemic to continue to support activity.

Robert Gardner, Chief Economist, Nationwide

Around the regions

In Q3 Wales, Scotland and Northern England continue to show accelerating price increases, while most English regions appear to be slowing down.

Wales was the highest performer at 15.3% year-on-year. Northern Ireland stood at 14.3% and Scotland picking up to 11.6%.

The rate of increase in England slowed to 8.5% from 9.9% in Q2, with price increases stronger in Northern England than the South. At 12.3%, Yorkshire showed the highest growth for the second quarter in a row, followed by the North West at 11.4%. London saw the lowest level of increase at 4.2%.