House prices surge to record high in August but Halifax warns job losses could hurt property market

'Rising house prices contrast with the adverse impact of the pandemic on household earnings,' says mortgage lender

The average home in the UK cost more than £245,000 in August, up 5.2 per cent in 12 months (PA)

Property prices rose to a new record high in August as the UK housing market was boosted by pent-up demand and a cut to stamp duty, Halifax reported.

The average cost of a UK home reached £245,747, up 1.6 per cent on the month before and 5.2 per cent higher than a year earlier.

Halifax warned that affordability is now “challenging” for some buyers and said it was “highly unlikely” the current pace of price rises could be sustained for long with job losses on the horizon.

Russell Galley, managing director of Halifax, said: “Rising house prices contrast with the adverse impact of the pandemic on household earnings and with most economic commentators believing that unemployment will continue to rise, we do expect greater downward pressure on house prices in the medium term.”

Some sales going through in August had been delayed between March and May when the housing market was all but shut down due to lockdown restrictions.

A stamp duty holiday until March next year on properties sold for up to £500,000 has incentivised buyers and sellers to pull forward sales they may have been considering holding off on.

“A surge in market activity has driven up house prices through the post-lockdown summer period, fuelled by the release of pent-up demand, a strong desire amongst some buyers to move to bigger properties, and of course the temporary cut to stamp duty,” Mr Galley said.

“Notwithstanding the various positive factors supporting the market in the short-term, it remains highly unlikely that this level of price inflation will be sustained. The macroeconomic picture in the UK should become clearer over the next few months as various government support measures come to an end, and the true scale of the impact of the pandemic on the labour market becomes apparent.”

Figures from HMRC show that 70,710 homes were sold in July, an increase of 14.5 per cent from June.

July also saw a return to pre-pandemic levels of mortgage approvals, according to the Bank of England. Lenders signed off 66,281 home loans in the month, up two-thirds from June and just 1 per cent below July 2019.

Nationwide also reported a jump in average sold prices in its latest figures. The building society reported the biggest monthly rise since February 2004.

Separate figures from the Land Registry, which lag behind Nationwide’s, show that prices rose 2.9 per cent in the 12 months to May.