The UK housing market has reached a turning point with prices dropping for the seventh month in a row. This is according to Nationwide, which released the March House Price Index (HPI) today (March 31) showing house prices are down by 3.1 per cent, the largest annual decline since 2009.
The South West region saw a 1.1 per cent decline, with an average house price of £302,451. Nationwide’s figures are derived from its lending data from properties in the post-survey approval stage. The figures showed West Midlands was the strongest performing region, while Scotland remained the weakest.
Robert Gardner, Nationwide’s chief economist, said: “March saw a further decline in annual house price growth, with prices down 3.1 per cent compared with the same month last year. March also saw a further monthly price fall (-0.8 per cent) – the seventh in a row – which leaves prices 4.6 per cent below their August peak (after taking account of seasonal effects).
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“The housing market reached a turning point last year as a result of the financial market turbulence which followed the mini-Budget. Since then, activity has remained subdued – the number of mortgages approved for house purchase remained weak at 43,500 cases in February, almost 40 per cent below the level prevailing a year ago.
“It will be hard for the market to regain much momentum in the near term since consumer confidence remains weak and household budgets remain under pressure from high inflation. Housing affordability also remains stretched, where mortgage rates remain well above the lows prevailing at this point last year," said Mr Gardner.
Meanwhile Pinerock Finance, which offers mortgages, bridging loans and development finance, has also released a report this week identifying the fastest declining house prices in the South West. Pinerock said its data is calculated by looking at the difference in the average house price sale between January and February 2023, using data from the Land Registry.
The data is as follows:
Cheltenham: £349,528 to £319,289 (-8.7%)
Bournemouth: £312,282 to £295,105 (-5.5%)
Plymouth: £219,556 to £210,342 (-4.2%)
Gloucester: £259,014 to £251,455 (-2.9%)
Bristol: £361,308 to £354,030 (-2.0%)
Poole: £376,707 to £377,460 (+0.2%)
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