UK house prices rise in annual terms in December – Halifax
British house prices rose in annual terms in December for the first time in eight months, according to mortgage lender Halifax. Despite the upbeat news, IGTV's @AngelineOng explains why UK housebuilders' shares are heading lower.
(Video Transcript)
UK housebuilders' share prices drop as house prices rise
UK housebuilders are in focus after we had numbers from Halifax, which show that British house prices rose in annual terms in December for the first time in eight months. This is according to Halifax.
Now, the key thing here is that house prices were 1.7% higher than in December 2022. This is when the market was, as Halifax says, hammered by the mini budget crisis of former Prime Minister Liz Truss.
Battered sector gets a glimpse of hope
However, it has to be said that health builders aren't actually really reacting to this. Think of light. I'm just showing you the charts now, because Taylor-Wimpey is lower. I mean, the border markets are lower, it has to be said today.
Many sectors on the FTSE are down, and housebuilders are included in that as well. Showing you Barrick Developments here also. But this news will be a chink of light to the housing sector, which has been battered in 2023.
What is key here is that if we see the economy continue to do better and we see more and more signs that employment and, also the cost-of-living crisis, are easing, then perhaps we could see that it could be a better year for the housebuilders.
But, now, even though we've got these brighter-than-expected numbers from Halifax, these housebuilders are following the overall index lower.
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