UK house prices continue to slide
By Norma Cohen, Economics Correspondent
Published: March 31 2008 03:28 | Last updated: March 31 2008 03:28
House prices fell by an average of 0.2 per cent in March, according to the latest survey from Hometrack, the property information group.
The survey follows gloomy data last week from Nationwide, which found that house price inflation had fallen to an annualised 1.7 per cent in March, a 15-year low. Unless the trend reversed, house prices would soon be falling, Nationwide concluded.
The Hometrack survey places house price inflation for March below even that of Nationwide at 0.4 per cent year-on-year. This was the sixth consecutive month in which house price rises slowed, reaching the lowest level since March 2006.
The data suggest London house prices may also come under pressure. The number of new properties listed for sale rose by 8.4 per cent, while new registered buyers were up just 1.9 per cent.
The one bright spot was an increase in people registering an interest in purchasing a property, the second such increase after steadily declining numbers since last summer. However, the increase was well down on February, suggesting that house-buying enthusiasm may be ephemeral.
“Some bounce-back in market activity was inevitable after what has been a prolonged period of weak market activity,” said Richard Donnell, director of research.
The average agreed price was 93.5 per cent of the price sought, mostly unchanged from the start of the year.
Hometrack is forecasting a 17 per cent drop in the number of transactions over 2008 from that of last year, because most households simply do not need to move. |
