Mortgages Uncovered

In March house prices rose again, say the Nationwide.

The Nationwide building society claimed that house prices further increased by 0.9% in comparison to the previous month.

The annual rate of property price falls fell from February’s 17.6% to 15.7% in March, which brought the average cost of a UK home to £150,946.

Nationwide described the change as a “surprise bounce” and warned against concluding the market had turned.

Chief economist at Nationwide, Fionnuala Earley said;”While the rise in prices in March is welcome, it is far too soon to see this as evidence that the trough of the market has been reached. Cuts in interest rates and the Bank of England’s move to expand the amount of money in the system would take time to work through into the housing market before there was a sustained recovery in house prices.”

The survey from Nationwide found that UK house prices had dropped by 4.2% during the first 3 months of this year in comparison to the final quarter of 2008.

Ms Earley commented that “… the significant slowdown in falling prices year-on-year was distorted by the sharp decline in the market last year.”

The figures from the building society further show that the prices of flats have been particularly volatile in comparison with other types of properties.