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Housing demand and supply both fell by 13% in October as the Brexit uncertainty continues to cool the market, the NAEA Propertymark housing report has found.

There were just 294 house hunters and supply fell to 40 per branch on average.

Mark Hayward, chief executive of NAEA Propertymark, said: “Last month’s findings prove that uncertainty surrounding Brexit is having an impact on the sector.

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Estate agency Haart has warned that extended Brexit negotiations could cause property transactions to dip by 20 per cent in 2019.

Haart’s figures show that buyer registrations are up by 37 per cent, but Brexit uncertainty is holding back transaction levels.

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UK Finance’s latest data reveals a softening mortgage market in terms of first-time buyers, homemovers and buy-to-let borrowers on a monthly and yearly basis.

The report shows that FTB completions were down 4.5 per cent on an annual basis, consisting of 29,400 new completions in September as compared to 30,800 a year ago. However, the total value for both this September and last September is the same – £5bn.

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Annual house price growth fell to 1.6% in October, the lowest since May 2013, Nationwide’s house price index has found.

From September to October house price inflation was flat.

Robert Gardner, chief economist at Nationwide, said: “The squeeze on household budgets and the uncertain economic outlook is likely to have dampened demand, even though borrowing costs remain low by historic standards and unemployment is at 40-year lows.

“We continue to expect house prices to rise by around 1% over the course of 2018.

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Gross mortgage lending across the residential market in September was £21.5bn, some 1.2% lower than last September, UK Finance’s Household Finance Update has found.                                                                                        

The number of mortgages approved by the main high street banks in September was 9.1% lower than last September; approvals for house purchase were 10.1% lower, remortgage approvals were 7.4% lower and approvals for other secured borrowing were 9.8% lower.

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Price rises continue to slow in Scotland, down 0.2% in August from July, the fourth consecutive drop in prices since May, the Your Move/Acadata House Price Index for Scotland has found.

The monthly drop in August was also substantially lower than that in both July (0.5%) and June (0.8%).

As a result, Scotland’s prices still averaged £180,310 in August, up from £174,481 a year ago. The annual rate slowed down to 3.3% in August, from 5.5% at the start of the year and 7.6% at its peak in March.

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Annual house price slowed to 3.2% in August 2018 from 3.4% in July 2018, the ONS House Price Index has revealed.

House prices are rising the fastest in the East Midlands at 6.5%, followed by the West Midlands at 5.1%.

London prices fell by 0.2% annually and 0.5% on a monthly basis.

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On a monthly basis, house prices increased by 0.3% in September from -0.5% in August 2018, with an average house price standing at £214,922 compared to £214,745 last month, according to the Nationwide House Price Index.

Robert Gardner, Nationwide’s chief economist, said that subdued economic activity and ongoing pressure on household budgets is likely to continue to exert a modest drag on housing market activity and house price growth this year, though borrowing costs are likely to remain low.

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Mortgage lending fell by 1.2% year-on-year in August despite a 9.2% increase in remortgaging, UK Finance’s household finance update has found.

Gross mortgage lending stood at £24.1bn, with house purchase and other secured borrowing falling by 4.3% and 2.1% respectively.

Peter Tyler, director at UK Finance, said: “Remortgaging continued to dominate in August, as homeowners took advantage of a competitive market to lock into attractive deals.”

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Following the Bank of England’s decision to increase the base rate there has been a surge in the number of borrowers seeking longer-term fixed rate mortgages, according to Yorkshire Building Society.

The mutual has reported a 13% increase in the number of borrowers applying for a five-year fixed rate mortgage since the Monetary Policy Committee increased Bank Rate to 0.75% on 2 August 2018.

Janice Barber, Mortgage Manager at Yorkshire Building Society, said:

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