Nationwide House Price Index shows annual house price growth slowing to 0.5% in October

Nationwide Building Society reported on Friday 30 October 2026 that UK annual house price growth slowed to 0.5% in October, its weakest pace since January 2024¹. The average price of a UK property stood at £273,566, flat on the previous month and down from 0.8% in the year to September, according to the lender². The average UK home was worth just £139 more than in May 2025¹.

Higher mortgage rates were cited as a factor. This month the average cost of a five-year fixed-rate mortgage hit the 6% barrier for the first time in three years, standing at 5.99% on Thursday according to Moneyfacts, while the average two-year rate was 5.97%². There has been no change in the Bank of England base rate since last December, held at 3.75%, but volatility in the bond market has driven up the swap rates that influence fixed-rate pricing, and expectations are growing that the monetary policy committee will vote next week to raise the rate to 4%².

Robert Gardner, Nationwide's chief economist, said the Middle East conflict had fed concerns around inflation, driving up expectations of higher interest rates, and that prices were likely to fall further².

Separately, HM Land Registry's UK House Price Index, covering completed sales, reported an annual increase of 1.4% in the year to July 2026, taking the average UK property to £273,000, with prices up 0.7% between June and July 2026³. The two measures cover different periods and are not directly comparable. In England the average was £293,000, an annual rise of 1.1%³. Regional figures for July showed the North East with the highest annual growth at 4.9% and London the lowest at -3.3%, where the average was £550,000³.

Source: UK House Price Index for July 2026³. The release did not give a UK monthly figure for Wales in the same format; the Welsh monthly rise of 1% is as stated in the release text³.

Why it matters for households

The figures describe a market where prices are broadly flat. For anyone with a mortgage, the cost of borrowing is the more immediate pressure: the average five-year fixed rate reached 6% this month, the first time in three years². For first-time buyers, the average price paid in England was £246,000 in July, up 2.3% on a year earlier, while in London it was £467,000, down 4%³. Flats have fallen furthest in England, down 3.5% annually to an average £217,000, and in London down 6.6% to £424,000³. Sellers are affected too: Nationwide said prices were likely to fall further². How these indices are compiled is set out in our guide to the UK House Price Index, and the home-buying hub covers the buying process.

What happens next

The Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee meets in November, with expectations growing that it will vote to raise the base rate to 4%². The chancellor, John Healey, confirmed the government's new £4.7bn Your First Home scheme this week²; the First Homes scheme in England is a separate scheme. The next UK House Price Index, for August 2026, is due at 9:30am on Wednesday 21 October 2026, according to the July release³; no later release date has been reported.