Annual growth in UK house prices slowed last month, and they went back into decline on a monthly basis, numbers from mortgage lender Halifax showed Friday.
UK house price growth ebbed to 0.3% year-on-year in March, Halifax said, from a 1.6% hike in February. Prices fell 1.0% in March from February, having risen 0.3% in February from January.
It was the first monthly fall since September, while the annual reading was the tamest since November.
“That a monthly fall should occur following five consecutive months of growth is not entirely unexpected, particularly in view of the reset the market has been going through since interest rates began to rise sharply in 2022,” Halifax analyst Kim Kinnaird said.
“Despite this house prices have shown surprising resilience in the face of significantly higher borrowing costs.
“Affordability constraints continue to be a challenge for prospective buyers, while existing homeowners on cheaper fixed-term deals are yet to feel the full effect of higher interest rates. This means the housing market is still to fully adjust, with sellers likely to be pricing their properties accordingly.”
By Eric Cunha, Alliance News news editor
