House price rises slow but stamp duty move may lead to 'buyer rush'

The growth in UK house prices slowed unexpectedly last month, Nationwide said, as it warned buyers to expect a rush in transactions early next year prompted by changes to stamp duty rules in the budget.

- Jack Simpson

The building society's monthly index showed that annual house prices grew at a rate of 2.4% in October, a slowdown from the near two-year high of 3.2% recorded in September.

This was still the third highest rate of annual growth since December 2022, but was lower than experts had forecast, with a Reuters poll of economists predicting a 2.8% increase for the month.