The Nationwide Building Society has reported that the price of a typical home unchanged over the month in November.
Prices are now just 1.2% below the level prevailing 12 months ago, while the typical home is now worth £163,853.
“The annual rate of house price inflation remained in negative territory for the ninth month in a row in November,” said Robert Gardner, Nationwide’s chief economist.
“However, the pace of decline remained extremely slow, with prices just 1.2% below the level prevailing in November 2011.
“The predominant theme remains one of stability. Indeed, UK house prices were unchanged over the month in November, after taking account of normal seasonal factors. Moreover, annual price growth has remained in a narrow band between +1.5% and -1.5% on all but two occasions over the past two years.”
Jonathan Samuels, CEO of Dragonfly Property Finance, added: “No change over the past month pretty much applies to the property market of the past year. With the exception of London, it’s idling with little discernible direction.
“The property market is doing better than it perhaps should be given the still delicate state of the underlying economy. Low interest rates and a resilient jobs market have definitely acted as a glass floor under prices. The big question, as ever, is what happens when rates go up?
“Household finances, starved of wage growth, remain on a knife edge and many people are desperately exposed to a higher interest rate environment. At the same time, the Funding for Lending scheme has yet to prove it is making an impact where it matters.”
He added: “The hope is that the economy continues to strengthen, although the suspicion is that this may once again prove to be a false dawn. 2013 could be another year of economic and property market stagnation.”
