Forexpros – U.K. house prices rose unexpectedly in November, industry data showed on Tuesday.
In a report, U.K. mortgage lender Nationwide said its house price index rose 0.4% in November, confounding expectations for a decline of 0.1%.
U.K. house prices rose by an unrevised 0.4% in October.
Year-on-year, home prices in the U.K. rose at an annualized rate of 1.6% in November, beating expectations for a 1.3% increase, after rising by 0.8% in the preceding month.
Commenting on the report, Nationwide’s chief economist Robert Gardner said, “House prices have remained surprisingly resilient in recent months, despite the deterioration in the economic outlook.”
“But, with the UK economic recovery expected to remain sluggish well into 2012, house price growth is likely to remain soft, with prices moving sideways or drifting modestly lower over the next twelve months,” Mr. Gardner added.
Following the release of the data, the pound was fractionally lower against the U.S. dollar, with GBP/USD easing down 0.03% to trade at 1.5509.
Meanwhile, the outlook for European stock markets was modestly upbeat. The EURO STOXX 50 futures pointed to a gain of 0.15%, France’s CAC 40 futures eased up 0.1%, the FTSE 100 futures edged 0.25% higher, while Germany’s DAX futures added 0.05%.
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