"Price growth may soften further in the final quarter of the year, given the high base for comparison from the fourth quarter of 2013. The outlook remains uncertain."
- Nationwide
According to Nationwide Building Society, property prices in the United Kingdom registered the first decline since May 2013, as they slipped 0.2% in September, calculated month-on-month. Therefore, the average house price in the country reached 188,374 pounds. On a yearly basis, the indicator added 9.4%, down from 11% growth back in August. Economists confirm the period of softening housing market in Britain, taking into account recent actions of the Bank of England in order to avoid bubble. Last week, data from Hometrack Ltd showed the first decrease of property prices in London in more than two years. At the same time, positive development on the labour market and low interest rates are likely to support demand for property in the foreseeable future.
Additionally, current account deficit in the U.K. deteriorated further in the Q2, as it dropped to 23.1 billion pounds, while data for previous three months used to be worse than estimated before at 20.5 billion pounds. At the same time, economic growth in the country was revised to 0.9% for the April-June time period, registering the highest quarterly advance since the third quarter of 2012. Annual growth was unchanged at 3.2%, the second-fastest GDP increase among G7 countries, being only behind the United States. Among GDP components, business investment climbed 3.3% against a previous prediction for a 0.9% rise.
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