- Peter Dixon, economist at Commerzbank AG
House prices in London rose the most in more than a year in October as a seasonal increase in demand drove a rebound in the capital's property market. Values rose 7% from September to a record average 596,692 pounds, the biggest leap since October 2013, Rightmove said. Surging home prices in the capital have forced buyers to seek property outside London, resulting in a 10% annual increase in asking prices in the South-East, compared with an advance of 9.6% in the capital. Average asking price in the South-East currently stands at 355.874 pounds. Across the country, the property price going on sale in October rose by 2.6% compared with September, with average price increasing by 7,000 pounds to 271,669. Despite the bullish long-run outlook from Rightmove, it admitted that overall house price inflation was slowing. The 2.6% national monthly asking price rise in October is the lowest rise in six years. While data this week reveals a fifth quarter of uninterrupted growth since Bank of England Governor Mark Carney stepped in, economists see the pace slowing, while drivers acting against rate hike are mounting. This means the central bank's nine-member MPC will continue to vote to keep monetary policy unchanged and key interest rate at a historic-low of 0.5%. The softening outlook urged investors to push back bets for the first rate lift to September 2015, from May at the time of the BoE's September meeting.
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