Rents and house prices cool from summer boom
THE PROPERTY market appears to be giving a glimmer of hope to prospective first-time buyers, with house price growth slowing in September and landlords saying they expect lower rent increases.
Nationwide’s house price index, released yesterday, fell 0.2 per cent from August to September which knocks annual growth down to 9.4 per cent from 11 per cent. It marked the first monthly fall in the index for 17 months.
Meanwhile estate agents Savills released separate numbers showing prime markets slowing, especially around the £2m mark as a seven per cent stamp duty band for properties over £2m hits markets. Renewed talk of a mansion tax also contributed, Savills said.
And the results of a survey released today by Your Move and Reeds Rains show that landlords are expecting rent increases to slow to 1.8 per cent over the next year. Cheaper rents are being driven, counterintuitively, by greater tenant demand, according to the report. Rising demand has reduced void periods ensuring greater stability of income for landlords. Now more people want to add rental properties to their portfolios, it said.