For almost the entire whole of 2019, consumers were making choices under the uncertainty cloud of Brexit. For most, investing into a large purchase, such as property, would be put off until there was a better understanding of what would happen, a no deal Brexit or not, and how the economy would handle the result. There were many that didn’t let the uncertainty sway their decision and instead made personal choices based on the opportunities available rather than heed the warnings of a possible doom and gloom scenario. The result for the year looks to show both resilience in the face of uncertainty, as well as caution from home buyers when historically low interest rates were offered and lower asking prices from home sellers.

The latest data from Nationwide revealed an increase of 0.8% annual growth of the UK average house price for November. The growth within the housing market monthly annual comparison reports has remained under 1.0% throughout the year.  

The current average UK house now costs, according to the report, £215,734.

In the month to month comparison, there was 0.5% growth from October to November. While minimal growth compared to years past, it was the largest increase in a month to month gain since July 2018.

The general election scheduled to occur in only a few weeks, and before the close of the year, is not expected to impact any change on the housing market as traditionally general elections do not impact decisions of home buyers. Therefore, the rest of the year is likely to show the same mindset of home buyers and home sellers as months previous. While the year’s housing market may not be impressive once the data is compiled, it will have prevailed in unusual and hard economic pressures.

For those home buyers that took advantage of the opportunities offered in this past year’s housing market including low interest rates, even low interest rates with long term fixed mortgages, and lower asking prices, it could turn out to be a very smart time to have taken action for the next year may not be as opportunistic as 2019.