UK house prices rise for third month; factory downturn eases – as it happened

Nationwide reports house prices only fell 2% in year to November, and rose during the month, as mortgage rates fall

Nationwide has also provided this chart, showing how UK interest rate expectations in the financial markets have eased back, after surging earlier this year:

Robert Gardner, Nationwide's chief economist, explains:

These shifts are important as they have led to a decline in the longer-term interest rates (swap rates) that underpin fixed rate mortgage pricing, as shown below.

If sustained, this will help to ease the affordability pressures that have been stifling housing market activity in recent quarters, where the number of mortgage approvals for house purchases has been running at c.30% below pre-pandemic levels.