Housing Market4th May 2010
Some positive news for the housing market, courtesy of a report from Nationwide: following a fall of 0.8 per cent in February, property prices in March recorded a rise of 0.7 per cent.
House prices in the UK now stand at £164,519, nine per cent higher than in March 2009.
Nationwide also released their first quarterly report of 2010 today, which showed that property values have risen by 1.6 per cent in the first three months of the year.
The annual growth rate increased from 3.4 per cent in Q4 2009 to 8.8 per cent in Q1 2010.
Despite the recent rise in house prices, Nationwide’s report points out that a slowdown in the number of property transactions in 2010 could signal a stable but subdued housing market in coming months.
Martin Gahbauer, Nationwide's Chief Economist, explains: "The last two months are consistent with a relatively flat profile for house prices, and in line with the recent drops seen in buyer enquiries and the number of houses for sale.
"Preliminary figures show that the number of loans taken out for house purchases failed to recover from January's large dip, suggesting that weakness in house sales at the start of the year may have been due to more than just the snowy weather.
"With greater than usual political and economic uncertainty ahead of the upcoming general election, potential homebuyers are proceeding cautiously.
"At the same time, the number of houses for sale has not increased appreciably, meaning that the impact of lower buyer activity on house prices has not been too negative.
"If this trend continues, we are likely to see relatively few properties changing hands, but with prices fairly stable."
View Nationwide's Reports
(Source findaproperty.com)
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