U.K. house prices increased at the fastest pace in seven months in December, the Nationwide Building Society reported Wednesday.
House prices advanced 4.5 percent year-on-year in December, the biggest since May when it climbed 4.6 percent. Economists had forecast house price growth to rise to 3.8 percent from 3.7 percent.
Month-on-month, house prices grew 0.8 percent in December, faster than the 0.1 percent gain seen in November and an expected rise of 0.4 percent.
“As we look ahead to 2016, the risks are skewed towards a modest acceleration in house price growth, at least at the national level, despite the likelihood of interest rate increases from the middle of next year,” Robert Gardner, Nationwide’s chief economist, said.
The economist forecasts prices to rise by 3-6 percent over the next twelve months.
Average house prices in England increased by 2.2 percent in the fourth quarter, and were up 6.9 percent year-on-year.
Further, data showed that all regions except Scotland registered increases in house prices in 2015, though all reported slower rates of annual price growth than in 2014.
London was the strongest performing region for the fifth year running, with average prices up 12 percent year-on-year.
The material has been provided by InstaForex Company – www.instaforex.com