Property price rise momentum continues

UK property investors closed out the year in good spirits as December added a further 1% to values, marking a 10% increase for the calendar year and 16% since the onset of the pandemic. We have the numbers from Nationwide and Zoopla.

After a brief dip in October immediately following the end of the stamp duty holiday, demand remains high and supply low. Mortgage approvals are still brisk, suggesting that this momentum will continue into the next quarter.

Nationwide's numbers for December

• Annual house price growth increased to 10.4%, from 10.0% in November
• 2021 was the strongest calendar year for house price growth since 2006
• Price of a typical UK home hit a record high of £254,822, up nearly £24,000 over the year
• Wales was the strongest performing region in 2021, London the weakest

	December 2021	November 2021
Monthly change	+1.0%	+0.9%
Annual Change	+10.4%	+10%
Average Price Not seasonally adjusted	£252,844	£252,687

Demand has remained strong in recent months, despite the end of the stamp duty holiday at the end of September. Mortgage approvals for house purchase have continued to run above pre-pandemic levels, despite the surge in activity seen earlier in the year. Indeed, in the first 11 months of 2021 the total number of property transactions was almost 30% higher than over the same period of 2019.

At the same time, the stock of homes on the market has remained extremely low throughout the year, which has contributed to the robust pace of price growth.

​Robert Gardner, Chief Economist, Nationwide

Zoopla/Hometrack's top 5 cities

Almost all of the English regions saw a higher rate of price growth than both of the previous two years combined, London being the notable exception. Wales and Northern Ireland followed the same pattern.

At the city level, it is still those in the North and Midlands setting the pace, where affordability is higher than in more southerly areas.

	Average Price	November 2021 ​y-o-y	November 2020 ​y-o-y
Liverpool	£141,500	+10.7%	+6.0%
Manchester	£198,700	+8.5%	+6.3%
Nottingham	£180,800	+8.1%	+8.1%
Sheffield	£157,600	+8.0%	+5.1%
Leicester	£206,300	+7.9%	+5.2%