UK house prices fall for first time in 15 months after Liz Truss mini-budget

Average price of a property drops to 268,282 in October as interest rate rises hit affordability

UK house prices fell for the first time in more than a year in October, as the Liz Truss government's mini-budget wreaked havoc on the housing market, pushing mortgage rates sharply higher.

The average price of a property was down by 0.9% compared with September, to 268,282, according to Nationwide building society's latest monthly report, the first snapshot of a tumultuous period. This was the first fall since July 2021 and the largest since June 2020. The annual growth rate slowed sharply from 9.5% to 7.2%.