House prices, property funds, credit cards and tax

Annual house price growth eased to 8.4 per cent in the month of June, the lowest rate in a year, according to the Halifax, the UK’s largest mortgage lender.

The quarterly rate of growth was 1.2 per cent, the slowest since December 2014. Nevertheless, the average price of a house rose to another record high, at £216,823. The figures pre-date the result of the UK’s EU referendum, which many economists believe will slow house price inflation even further. Markets

Shares in London have opened almost 1 per cent higher and the pound has made some modest gains – but it remains around a 31-year low. The 100 share index was up 56.39 in early trading to 6,519.98. The pound rose 0.22 per cent against the dollar to $1.2959 and was 0.32 per cent higher against the euro at €1.1684.

Property funds Aberdeen Asset Management has become the seventh property investment fund to suspend payouts. Henderson Global Investors, Columbia Threadneedle and Canada Life said yesterday that they were freezing their property funds.