“External factors have chipped away at the property market”: LendInvest responds to Halifax House Price Index

Halifax has today published its house price index for the month of August, revealing that prices fell 0.2% over the month.

Responding to the figures, Ian Thomas, Co-Founder and Director at LendInvest, said:

“There have been a number of external factors that have chipped away at the property market in recent months, from the additional Stamp Duty charge to Brexit, with the traditional summer slowdown weighing in as well. While transactions have certainly slowed in central London as a result, the sentiment we get from buyers around the rest of the country is that it is close to business as usual.

“September will be a useful barometer for what comes next for the property market, as transactions tend to pick up once the holiday period is over. Nonetheless the fundamentals of the property market are unchanged – we do not have enough homes, and we aren’t building enough homes to address that shortage. That will act as a brake on any house price softening in the months to come.”