House prices rose by 4.7% in 2024, says Nationwide

UK house prices ended 2024 some 4.7% higher than at the commence of the year, according to the Nationwide.

Property prices and housing economy activity remained “remarkably resilient” despite affordability challenges facing buyers, the lender said.

The average home in the UK expense £269,426 at the complete of December, its figures display.

Despite the latest rise, the average expense remains below the peak seen in the summer of 2022.

The Nationwide, the UK’s biggest building population, said prices of terraced homes rose fastest during the year.

Northern Ireland saw the fastest worth growth, its mortgage data shows, with values also rising faster in northern England than in the south, although all regions saw an boost.

A lack of certainty over profit and mortgage rates, as well as upheaval caused by changes to stamp responsibility, could make 2025 challenging to navigate for buyers and sellers.

Housing experts forecast the economy will view the number of sales boost over the next few months, ahead of the stamp responsibility changes scheduled for April, before falling away afterwards.

House buyers will commence paying stamp responsibility on properties over £125,000, instead of over £250,000 at the instant.

First-period buyers currently pay no stamp responsibility on homes up to £425,000, but this will drop to £300,000 in April.

There are also widespread expectations that the lender of England will gradually reduce profit rates throughout the year, possibly starting in February, giving confidence to lenders to cut the expense of recent fixed mortgage deals.

However, lender of England governor Andrew Bailey recently said “the globe is too doubtful” to make accurate predictions of when profit rates would fall, and by how much.

Robert Gardner, Nationwide’s chief economist, said that house prices remained high relative to average profits at the commence of 2024, which meant that raising a capital was tough for prospective first-period buyers.

“This is a test that had been made worse by record rates of rental growth in recent years, which has hampered the ability of many in the private rented sector to save,” he said.

And Holly Tomlinson, monetary planner at capital distribution firm Quilter, said: “The looming changes to stamp responsibility are likely to make purchasing even more challenging for this first-period buyers, adding further costs at a period when every penny counts.”

Some lenders have predicted that falling mortgage rates and rising wages should enhance housing affordability during this year.

UK Finance, the lenders’ trade body, has approximate a 10% rise in mortgage lending for house purchases during 2025, although some analysts have already questioned this prediction as optimistic for lenders.

Further ahead, it is expected many people will again discover it tough to afford to shift or buy a recent home in 2026.

Eight in 10 mortgage customers have fixed-rate deals. The profit rate on this benevolent of mortgage does not transformation until the deal expires, usually after two or five years, and a recent one is chosen to replace it.

Even if mortgage rates fall this year, rates will still remain higher than many homeowners are paying on the current fixed deal.

The lender of England estimated that about 4.4 million mortgage holders are expected to view payments rise by 2027.

It said a typical owner-occupier coming off a fixed rate in the next two years would view their monthly mortgage repayments boost by around £146.

Nationwide’s house worth data is based on its own mortgage lending, which does not include buyers who purchase homes with money, or buy-to-let deals. money buyers account for about a third of housing sales.

Rival lender, the Halifax, will publish its final 2024 data in the coming days.