The annual rate of house price growth has fallen to 1.8%, its lowest level for almost five years, according to the Halifax.
With the most recent official data showing earnings growth averaging 2.5%, that means that unusually, wages are currently outpacing house prices.
The mortgage lender said the average property price nudged up by 0.4% – or £891 – during February following two months of falls, but added: “We expect price growth to remain low.”
The Halifax’s figures come days after Nationwide reported that UK house prices fell unexpectedly in February for the first time in six months, as the squeeze on household incomes and weaker economic backdrop weighed on the property market.
According to the Halifax’s data, an annual growth rate of 1.8% – down from 2.2% in January – is the lowest since March 2013. As recently as February 2017 the figure was 5.1%. The Halifax put the average cost of a UK home at £224,353.
Russell Galley, the bank’s managing director, said he believed that low mortgage rates, combined with an ongoing shortage of properties for sale, “should continue to support house prices over the coming months”.
