Your Move says that prices in most regions continued to show growth, with the exception of the south east and north east which showed modest falls.
Overall, though, if you look at the figures for a full year rather than just for October, the annual rate of house price inflation is continuing to fall and is now down to 1.1 per cent. That’s the slowest rate of growth for six years.
But the picture varies across the country. The East Midlands (where we have many of our developments) bucked the national trend, with annual growth of 2.8 per cent.
In London, annual price growth slowed substantially in the past month, falling to just 1.8 per cent, yet there was still an increase of £10,889 in the past 12 months with the average price of a home in London now £620,571.
Meanwhile, figures from estate agent Hamptons suggest that there has been a ‘real’ fall in rents over the past ten years. Over the past decade rents have risen by 22 per cent, but the consumer prices index (CPI) which measures the average cost of goods and services (or the cost of living) has risen 24 per cent.
As with house prices, though, the figures do vary by region. Hamptons says that in the East of England (where we also have many developments) ‘real’ rents have risen by 7.5 per cent over the past 10 years.
And if you look at the short-term trends, Hamptons says that the average cost of a new let in Great Britain rose to £977 per month in October as rental growth accelerated to 2.0 per cent - the highest level since February 2018.
Every region recorded a rise in rents, with the East of England seeing the biggest increase at the equivalent of 3.9 per cent per year.
This all means that you are still better off buying rather than renting. A recent study found that it is cheaper to buy than rent in every region of the country. Average savings are at least £2,000 per year.
You can check out all our new homes here and see what you can afford to pay on a mortgage here.
