The Halifax House Price Index in the UK rose 2.8 percent year-on-year in the three months to February 2019, following a 0.8 percent increase in the previous period and easily beating market expectations of 1 percent. It was the highest annual house price growth since the three months to August 2018, but was still subdued compared to 2015 and 2016, when the average growth rate was 8.3 percent. "The shortage of houses for sale will certainly be playing a role in supporting prices", Russell Galley, Managing Director, Halifax, said. "People are still facing challenges in raising a deposit which means we continue to expect subdued price growth for the time being. However, the number of sales in January was right on the five year average and, at over 100,000 for the fifth consecutive month, the overall resilience of the market is still evident", he added. Housing Index in the United Kingdom averaged 374.43 Index Points from 1983 until 2019, reaching an all time high of 766.40 Index Points in February of 2019 and a record low of 96.10 Index Points in January of 1983.
Housing Index in the United Kingdom is expected to be 762.00 Index Points by the end of this quarter, according to Trading Economics global macro models and analysts expectations. Looking forward, we estimate Housing Index in the United Kingdom to stand at 785.00 in 12 months time. In the long-term, the United Kingdom House Price Index is projected to trend around 805.00 Index Points in 2020, according to our econometric models.