Finance
UK house prices rise 3.5% y/y in May, Nationwide says
Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on June 2, 2025
1 min readLast updated: January 23, 2026
Global Banking & Finance Review®
Company
Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on June 2, 2025
1 min readLast updated: January 23, 2026
UK house prices rose 3.5% in May, reversing April's decline. Nationwide attributes this to low unemployment and potential interest rate cuts.
LONDON (Reuters) -British house prices in May were 3.5% higher than a year earlier, monthly data from mortgage lender Nationwide showed on Monday, after an unexpected 0.5% monthly increase largely reversed a fall in April.
Economists polled by Reuters had forecast a 0.1% monthly increase and a 2.9% annual increase.
The seasonally adjusted monthly increase was the largest since December, while the annual gain was the second-smallest since October, after April's 3.4% rise.
British property sales surged in March as buyers sought to complete transactions before the end of a partial exemption on purchase taxes, before falling sharply in April, according to government figures.
However, Nationwide said demand appeared to have recovered in May.
"Despite wider economic uncertainties in the global economy, underlying conditions for potential home buyers in the UK remain supportive," Nationwide's chief economist, Robert Gardner, said.
Low unemployment, wages rising faster than inflation and the prospect of some further Bank of England interest rate cuts were all acting as a boost to the property market, he said.
(Reporting by David Milliken; Editing by Sachin Ravikumar)
UK house prices in May were 3.5% higher than a year earlier, according to Nationwide.
Economists had forecasted a 0.1% monthly increase, but the actual increase was 0.5%.
Factors such as low unemployment, rising wages, and the potential for further interest rate cuts by the Bank of England are supporting the property market.
British property sales surged in March as buyers rushed to complete transactions before a tax exemption ended, but they fell sharply in April.
Nationwide's chief economist, Robert Gardner, mentioned that demand appeared to have recovered in May despite wider economic uncertainties.
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