The future could be looking brighter as we enter a new year, with worries surrounding construction output taking a positive turn


Andy Sommerville, director at Search Acumen, comments on ONS UK House Price Index, November 2016.

“Another significant year-on-year increase in house prices is naturally daunting news to the pool of first time buyers already struggling to get a grasp on the housing ladder. The average house price in the UK rose by £14,000 in the year to November, continuing the upward trend seen since 2013. However, the future could be looking brighter as we enter a new year, with worries surrounding construction output taking a positive turn.”

“Last week’s encouraging outlook from the construction output data[1] has given a glimmer of hope for those previously pessimistic about our housing shortage and paints a positive picture for the wider UK economy. Prices have indeed continued to rise but the 12.5% increase in private house-building in the year to November is no doubt a step in the right direction to tackle the gap between supply and demand.”

“It is vital that this momentum we have seen in the past couple of months is fervently kept up and the ball continues to roll into 2017. Whether we like it or not, our economy’s future will only become clearer as we establish what the Brexit journey will look like. But for now, we can learn from the past year that we should focus our efforts on the immediate problems in our industry rather than predicting what the future holds and a strong housing supply will prove indispensable for market hopefuls through these times.”

[1] https://www.ons.gov.uk/businessindustryandtrade/constructionindustry/datasets/outputintheconstructionindustry

 

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