Halifax House Price Index: House prices on the rise for the fifth consecutive month

The February 2024 Halifax House Price Index was released earlier today – is a market slowdown still on the cards?

The Halifax House Price Index (HPI) for February 2024 was published today – we’ve put together an overview of what it covers.

The latest data shows that UK house prices rose for the fifth consecutive month in February, up by +0.4%. The average house price now sits at £291,699. 

According to the index, house prices were +1.7% higher than a year ago, a slight drop from +2.3% in January. In fact, the average price of a home is now only around £1,800 off the peak seen in June 2022. 

The data continues to point to a relatively stable start to 2024 and align with other promising signs of increased housing activity, such as volume of mortgage approvals. Regardless, even with growing wages and inflation falling back, raising a deposit and affording a sizeable mortgage remains challenging, especially for those looking to join the property ladder, so it remains a possibility that there could be a slowdown in the housing market this year. 

In summary: 

• Average house prices rose by +0.4% in February, the fifth monthly rise in a row 
• Property prices grew +1.7% on an annual basis (vs +2.3% last month) 
• Typical UK home now costs £291,699, around £1,000 more than last month 
• Eastern England saw most downward pressure on house prices

 The next  Halifax House Price Index is scheduled for release on Friday 5th April 2024.   

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