House prices rose for a fourth consecutive month in December, ending 2024 on a “strong footing”, Nationwide said, with the cost of an average home hitting £269,426.
The building society’s monthly tracker found prices in December rose 0.7% on the previous month and were up 4.7% on an annual basis.
This marks the strongest rate of annual price inflation since Nationwide recorded 7.2% in October 2022, the month after the former prime minister Liz Truss and chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng’s disastrous mini-budget sent borrowing costs soaring.
Robert Gardner, Nationwide’s chief economist, said that despite the strong end to the year, the price of an average home still remained below the all-time high set in summer 2022.
“Mortgage market activity and house prices proved surprisingly resilient in 2024 given the ongoing affordability challenges facing potential buyers,” he said. “It was encouraging that activity levels in the housing market increased over the course of 2024, with the number of mortgages approved for house purchase each month rising above pre-pandemic levels towards the end of the year.”
The value of a typical UK home increased by almost £12,000 during 2024, from £257,443 at the end of 2023 to £269,426 at the end of last year.
Nationwide said the government’s changes to stamp duty in England and Northern Ireland from March were likely to generate volatility in the housing market, with many buyers likely to push through purchases to avoid paying additional tax.
In September 2022, the government temporarily increased the nil rate of stamp duty, the amount before you have to start paying stamp duty on a purchase, from £300,000 to £450,000 for first-time buyers, and from £125,000 to £250,000 for people buying an additional home. Rachel Reeves said during her budget in October that this would be scrapped from 31 March.
“This will lead to a jump in transactions in the first three months of 2025, especially in March, and a corresponding period of weakness in the following three to six months,” Gardner said. “This will make it more difficult to discern the underlying strength of the market.”
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All regions of the UK experienced house price growth last year. Northern Ireland was the best-performing area for the second year running, with prices up 7.1% on an annual basis.
Across England, overall prices were up 3.1% year on year, although Nationwide said there was a clear “north-south divide”. The price of a typical home in the north of England increased by 4.9%, while southern England registered an increase of 2.2% year on year.
Nathan Emerson, the chief executive of the estate agents’ body Propertymark, said: “Once the dust has settled following the anticipated rush heading towards April, buyers and sellers may reap the rewards of a slower-paced market, which may allow opportunities for greater negotiation on price from both buyers and sellers.”
