UK house prices have risen close to the record high set two years ago, a survey this morning shows, as confidence in the market picks up. The lender Halifax has reported that the average price of a house sold in August rose to £292,505, the highest since August 2022. That is only £1,000 shy of the record high set in June 2022. Halifax’s monthly gauge of the housing market also shows that prices rose by 0.3% in August, after a rise of 0.9% in July. On an annual basis, prices rose by 4.3%, the strongest year-on-year rise since November 2022. Recent cuts to mortgage rates have helped buyers afford homes; that trend could continue, with the Bank of England expected to cut interest rates at least once more this year (after it started easing policy in August). Amanda Bryden, the head of mortgages at Halifax, said: “Recent price rises build on a largely positive summer for the UK housing market. Prospective homebuyers are feeling more confident thanks to easing interest rates. That optimism is reflected in the latest mortgage approval figures, now at their highest level in almost two years. "Such has been the resilience of house prices that the average property is now just £1,000 shy of the record high set in June 2022 (£293,507). While this is welcome news for existing homeowners, affordability remains a significant challenge for many potential buyers still adjusting to higher mortgage costs." Poppy Gustafsson, the co-founder and chief executive of the British cybersecurity firm Darktrace, is to leave the company after its $5.3bn (£4.2bn) sale to the US private equity business Thoma Bravo. Gustafsson, one of the most well-known figures in the UK tech industry, founded Darktrace in Cambridge in 2013 with the backing from the late billionaire tycoon Mike Lynch’s Invoke Capital. In April, Thoma Bravo, which walked away from previous takeover talks in 2022, agreed a deal for the London-listed firm which had been seen as undervalued. Gustafsson is to step down with immediate effect and will be replaced by Jill Popelka, Darktrace’s chief operating officer. Global investors are bracing for the latest US jobs report, which will influence how quickly, and deeply, the central bank may cut interest rates. Economists are hoping for a pickup in hiring; expectations are for a 160,000 increase in payrolls in August, up from the disappointing 114,000 in July. The US unemployment rate is forecast to drop back to 4.2%, from 4.3%. The agenda • 9am BST: UN food price index • 10am BST: eurozone final GDP Q2 report • 1.30pm BST: US non-farm payroll report for August We’ll be tracking all the main events throughout the day ...
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