House prices see biggest fall for two years, says Nationwide

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The Nationwide said that UK house prices fell in November for the first time in more than two years.

It was the largest month-on-month decline since June 2020.

The building society said that annual house price growth fell to 4.4% from 7.2%.

The housing market was expected to remain subdued in the coming months, according to the lender.

The forecaster for the government predicted earlier this month that house prices will fall by 9% over the next two years due to affordability issues.

The Nationwide said that the average property price fell in November.

The housing sector was affected by the mini-budget in September which led to a rise in mortgage rates and the suspension of hundreds of mortgage products.

Robert Gardener, Nationwide's chief economist, said that the mini-budget and the big rise in mortgage rates made things worse.

He said that the typical mortgage payment was close to long-run averages for first-time buyers. The mini-budget has resulted in it moving up to 45% of take- home pay.

Falling house prices may be a relief to some first-time buyers, but experts warn that the big increase in the general cost of living may limit their ability to save for a deposit

The market is likely to be under pressure for some time, with inflation and the Bank of England likely to raise interest rates further.

He said that even though the outlook was uncertain, a relatively soft landing for the market was still possible because there was a lack of properties for sale.

The cost of borrowing began to fall recently.

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Moneyfacts reported last week that the average five-year fixed mortgage rate had fallen below 6 percent for the first time in two months.

The housing market has been showing signs of slowing down. The number of mortgages approved in October fell to its lowest level in more than a year.

Sarah said that the next few months could be a nightmare for the housing market.

She said that we were not seeing the full impact of the mini-budget as it takes about three months to complete a sale.

The data is likely to only include a week of sales agreed after mortgage chaos was unleashed. The effect of a sudden and possibly catastrophic loss of confidence is what we are seeing.

The damage may have been done since mortgage rates are expected to fall further.