U.K. House Prices Rise 0.3% in July

U.K. house prices climbed by a monthly 0.3% in July, Nationwide Building Society's data showed, after June's 1.1% rise.

June's price gain followed three consecutive monthly falls, the longest run of declines since 2009. Compared with July last year, house prices grew by 2.9%.

"On the surface, this [stability] appears at odds with recent signs of cooling in the housing market." said Nationwide Chief Economist Robert Gardner. The number of housing transactions fell to an eight-month low in June, while mortgage approvals fell to a nine-low.

However, a lack of homes seems to be providing support, said Gardner. "This pattern looks set to be maintained in the near term."

Whether house prices hold up as Britain disentangles itself from the European Union matters to the overall health of the economy. Over the past three decades, U.K. households have cut spending every time that house prices have fallen.

Write to Toby Luckhurst at toby.luckhurst@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

August 01, 2017 02:35 ET (06:35 GMT)