UK house prices leap to new high in August - Nationwide

Prices jumped by 2.0% from July, the biggest month-on-month increase since 2004 and far outstripping the median forecast for an increase of 0.5% in a Reuters poll of economists. Nationwide said prices were 3.7% higher than a year earlier.

British house prices surged in August to hit an all-time high, mortgage lender Nationwide said on Wednesday, adding to signs of a sharp rebound in the country's housing market after the coronavirus lockdown. Prices jumped by 2.0% from July, the biggest month-on-month increase since 2004, and far outstripping the median forecast for an increase of 0.5% in a Reuters poll of economists.

Nationwide said prices were 3.7% higher than a year earlier. The Reuters poll had pointed to a 2.0% annual increase. "House prices have now reversed the losses recorded in May and June and are at a new all-time high," Robert Gardner, Nationwide's chief economist, said.