British annual house price growth marked a further"sharp" slowdown in December, mortgage lender Nationwide said, ending the year on a downbeat note as the impact of surging mortgage costs reversed some of the pandemic-led boom in the market.
UK house prices have weakened in recent months as former Prime Minister Liz Truss's plans for unfunded tax cuts spooked markets and drove up borrowing costs.That has marked a slowdown from last year when price growth reached multi-year highs due to strong demand as people desired bigger homes more suited for remote working during the health crisis.
"It will be hard for the market to regain much momentum in the near term as economic headwinds strengthen, with real earnings set to fall further and the labour market widely projected to weaken as the economy shrinks." RICS' chief economist Simon Rubinsohn had said the downbeat tone reflected"the uncertain macro environment and the higher cost of mortgage finance".