London saw the largest annual decline in house prices at -4.8% although monthly growth remained flat at 0%
UK house prices have dropped 1.4% year on year, however, on a monthly basis they have shown signs of positivity with a 0.1% rise.
This is according to the latest UK House Price Index for December published today.
The average price of a property in the UK was £284,691 (down 1.4%).
London saw the largest annual decline in house prices at -4.8% although monthly growth remained flat at 0%.
Commenting on the latest figures Open Property Group chief executive Jason Harris-Cohen said: A monthly uplift in house prices during December, regardless of how marginal, is a very promising sign given the usual seasonal lull. This slight rise provides the first evidence that the mortgage market resurgence in both approvals and approval based house price growth is starting to filter through to sold prices.
He said: The further positive to take is that while sold prices had been in decline since the summer, this is very much the ‘light at the end of the tunnel’ phase of this brief house price correction.
Atom Bank head of mortgages Richard Harrison said the news of a 1.4 % drop in house prices in December came as little surprise.
He said: A seasonal decline in asking prices is always expected in the lead-up to Christmas, and the final month of 2023 saw vendors becoming increasingly competitive, lowering their pricing in the hope of closing a sale before the New Year.
Likewise, higher mortgage rates and stretched affordability for some buyers may have motivated them to offer below the asking price, in a bid to offset the impact of higher borrowing costs, Harrison added.
He said: More recent indicators point to increasing house prices as confidence in the market improves, and we should see this reflected in future ONS data.