Proactive Investors - Today’s Halifax House Price Index showed that house price inflation slowed more than expected in March.
The index rose by 0.3% year-on-year, slowing sharply from a downwardly revised 1.6% growth the month before and undershooting forecasts of 1.45%.
Month-on-month house prices fell for the first time in five months. According to the index, the typical UK home now costs £288,430, around £2,900 less than in February.
“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,” said Halifax director Kim Kinnaird. “Despite this, house prices have shown surprising resilience in the face of significantly higher borrowing costs.”
Nicky Stevenson, managing director at national estate agent group Fine & Country, noted that the market may be shifting to the buyers’ side.
She said: “An increasingly busy property market helped to prop up prices on an annual basis at the beginning of spring, but the monthly fall shows there is still some turbulence.
“Buyers are in a strong position and vendors are more open to negotiation, which is bringing prices down in some areas.
“The market is proving to be resilient in the face of ongoing economic challenges, and February’s mortgage approvals reached their highest levels since September 2022 thanks to activity levels starting to bounce back. Demand has remained steady since, with a strong showing over the Easter bank holiday weekend.”
“There is currently a healthy balance between demand and the steady drumbeat of more properties coming onto the market.
“This is encouraging more people to market their properties as they can see they have somewhere to move to, unlike a couple of years ago where a chronic undersupply of homes became a barrier for potential sellers.”