The price of a typical UK home saw a 0.7% rise during December 2024 with average prices ending the year at £269,426, according to the latest data released by Nationwide.

According to the data, UK house prices were up 4.7% year-on-year in December, with northern regions seeing higher price growth than southern regions. Northern Ireland was the best performing area for the second year running, with prices up 7.1% over 2024 and East Anglia was found to be the weakest performing region, with prices edging up by a marginal 0.5% over the year.

“UK house prices ended 2024 on a strong footing”, commented Robert Gardner, Nationwide’s chief economist. He added: “Though prices were still just below the all-time high recorded in summer 2022. House prices increased by 0.7% month-on-month, after taking account of seasonal effects, following a 1.2% rise in November.”

Gardner continued: “Mortgage market activity and house prices proved surprisingly resilient in 2024 given the ongoing affordability challenges facing potential buyers. At the start of the year, house prices remained high relative to average earnings, which meant that the deposit hurdle remained high for prospective first-time buyers. This is a challenge that had been made worse by record rates of rental growth in recent years, which has hampered the ability of many in the private rented sector to save.