Commentary by Ruban Selvanayagam

• According to the latest UK House Price Index, average house prices saw an annual price rise of 1.3% (to September 2019);
• The latest Hometrack UK Cities House Price Index reported that Leicester saw the greatest year-on-year house price growth at 4.7%.  This was followed by Manchester (4.6%), Liverpool (4.1%), Edinburgh (4.0%), Belfast (4.0%), Birmingham (3.5%), Nottingham (3.4%);
• The most recent Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) report stated that new instruction net balances slipped to their weakest readings in three years and buyer enquiries fell back into negative territory. Nonetheless, prices are still expected to rise at the national level over the coming twelve months.