House prices barely budged in January, growing slower than expected to signal a muted start to the year, figures showed on Friday.
According to Nationwide, the average price of a home in the UK climbed by 0.1% over the month and by 4.1% on an annual basis to £268,213.
This was slower than the 0.7% month-on-month and 4.7% annual uptick seen in December and missed expectations for growth of 0.3%.
Nationwide chief economist Robert Gardner noted the market continued to show “resilience despite ongoing affordability pressures,” which remained stretched.
“A prospective buyer earning the average UK income and buying a typical first-time buyer property with a 20% deposit would have a monthly mortgage payment equivalent to 36% of their take-home pay – well above the long-run average of 30%,” he said.
“Furthermore, house prices remain high relative to average earnings, with the first-time buyer house price to earnings ratio standing at 5.0 at the end of 2024, still well above the long run average of 3.9.”