{"id":119098,"date":"2026-09-07T07:14:08","date_gmt":"2026-09-07T07:14:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/119098\/"},"modified":"2026-09-07T07:14:08","modified_gmt":"2026-09-07T07:14:08","slug":"average-uk-house-price-falls-annually-for-first-time-since-2023-lloyds","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/119098\/","title":{"rendered":"Average UK house price falls annually for first time since 2023 \u2013 Lloyds"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"The<\/a> The housing market has faced a \u2018more difficult backdrop\u2019 in recent months but homeowners are not rushing to cut prices, Lloyds said (Steve Parsons\/PA) (PA Archive) <\/p>\n

The average UK house price fell annually in August, marking the first year-on-year decrease since November 2023, according to an index. <\/p>\n

A 0.4% average annual drop in property values was recorded by Lloyds<\/a> in August. <\/p>\n

The typical house price fell by 0.2% month on month, following a 0.1% month-on-month decrease in July. <\/p>\n

Across the UK, the average house price in August was \u00a3298,468. <\/p>\n

Andrew Asaam, mortgages director at Lloyds, said: “The average property now costs \u00a3298,468, marking the first annual fall in house prices since November 2023. <\/p>\n

“Despite that, prices are still marginally up (a 0.2% increase) since the start of the year. <\/p>\n

“The housing market has faced a more difficult backdrop in recent months, with the impact of global events on inflation and borrowing costs creating greater economic uncertainty. <\/p>\n

“What we’re not seeing is a rush of homeowners cutting prices. <\/p>\n

“But more are choosing to sit tight, with sellers reluctant to accept offers they feel are too low, while some buyers are waiting to see how conditions develop.” <\/p>\n

He added: “Average house prices remain around 25% higher than they were at the end of 2019, despite the substantial increase to interest rates seen over recent years.” <\/p>\n

Northern Ireland<\/a> continued to record the strongest annual house price growth, Lloyds said, with prices up by 6.9% annually and the average property value standing at a record high of \u00a3231,245. <\/p>\n

Scotland<\/a> also recorded solid growth, with prices rising by 3.5% annually, the report said. <\/p>\n

In Wales, the average house price has increased by 0.6% annually while within England growth remained strongest in northern regions, Lloyds said. <\/p>\n

By contrast, price growth remains under pressure across much of southern England, reflecting the greater affordability challenge caused by higher average prices, the bank added. <\/p>\n

Looking ahead, Mr Asaam said: “We expect the market to remain fairly subdued in the months ahead, but this will likely only have a limited impact on house prices. <\/p>\n

“While affordability remains a challenge, wages continue to grow and employment has held up better than many anticipated. This will help to support demand from those who need or want to move.” <\/p>\n

Nicky Stevenson, managing director of Fine & Country, said: “In a market where buyers have more choice and are increasingly payment-conscious, an ambitious asking price can quickly become a barrier to securing a deal. <\/p>\n

“Sellers who price realistically from the outset are much more likely to capture the attention of the buyers who are ready to act.” <\/p>\n

Story continues <\/p>\n

Jason Tebb, president of OnTheMarket, said: “As we head into autumn, and another Budget beckons, political uncertainty and challenging economic conditions continue to form a backdrop to activity.” <\/p>\n

Ian Futcher, a financial planner at wealth manager Quilter, said: “Clearly, stretched affordability and an uncertain economic background has had a negative impact on house prices and, unfortunately, recent volatility in bond markets has the potential to put further pressure on mortgage rates. <\/p>\n

“Swap rates have risen sharply in recent days and some lenders have already begun adjusting pricing in response. <\/p>\n

“For first-time buyers who have spent months building a deposit and carefully calculating what they can afford, sudden shifts in mortgage rates can pull the rug from under their feet just as they are preparing to make a move.” <\/p>\n

Mark Harris<\/a>, chief executive of mortgage broker SPF Private Clients, said: “Lenders are working hard to offer solutions to those trying to get on the ladder for the first time.” <\/p>\n

Here are average house prices followed by the annual change, according to Lloyds (regional annual change figures are based on the most recent three months of approved mortgage transaction data): <\/p>\n

East Midlands, \u00a3244,959, minus 0.2% <\/p>\n

Eastern England, \u00a3331,410, minus 1.2% <\/p>\n

London, \u00a3534,177, minus 1.5% <\/p>\n

North East<\/a>, \u00a3184,370, 2.7% <\/p>\n

North West, \u00a3248,675, 2.0% <\/p>\n

Northern Ireland, \u00a3231,245, 6.9% <\/p>\n

Scotland, \u00a3223,437, 3.5% <\/p>\n

South East, \u00a3381,729, minus 1.6% <\/p>\n

South West \u00a3298,807, minus 1.2% <\/p>\n

Wales, \u00a3230,282, 0.6% <\/p>\n

West Midlands, \u00a3260,286, 0.0% <\/p>\n

Yorkshire and the Humber, \u00a3217,085, minus 0.3% <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The housing market has faced a \u2018more difficult backdrop\u2019 in recent months but homeowners are not rushing to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":119099,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[21256],"tags":[47098,48480,48478,48477,5289,3692,2861,48485,48479,48482,48483,48484,11983,48481],"class_list":["post-119098","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-lloyds-banking-group","tag-0-2","tag-annual","tag-annually","tag-asaam","tag-august","tag-lloyds","tag-lloyds-banking-group","tag-minus-0-2","tag-minus-0-3","tag-minus-1-2","tag-minus-1-5","tag-minus-1-6","tag-month","tag-months"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@UnitedKingdom\/117228526833104256","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/119098","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=119098"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/119098\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/119099"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=119098"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=119098"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=119098"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}