05/04/2005

House prices rise following March dip

House prices increased by 0.5% in March, the Halifax has reported, offsetting the 0.5% fall in February.

There has been "virtually no change" in UK house prices since last September.

According to the latest figures from the Halifax House Price Index, the annual rate of house price inflation has continued to slow, dropping below 10% in March for the first time since November 2001, to 9.7%.

The figures showed that the strongest gains in house prices were seen outside of England, with prices rising by 3.1% in Northern Ireland and 2.4% in Wales.

Scotland reported the highest percentage rise in prices, 6.1%, taking the average price of a house in Scotland to £105,397 – the first time the price has risen above £100,000 in the first quarter of 2005.

The average house price fell in the first quarter in the South West (-1.2%), East Anglia (-0.9%) and the North (-0.6%).

There was a 0.1% rise in prices in London, which the Halifax said indicated that the market in London may be stabilising, following two previous successive quarterly declines. However, the capital still had the highest prices, with an average house price of £241,918.

Commenting on the figures, Martin, Chief Economist for the Halifax said: "The increase in interest rates between November 2003 and August 2004 and the difficulties facing potential first-time buyers in purchasing a property has caused the housing market to slow since mid 2004. The ongoing good health of the UK economy and the associated strength of the labour market, together with historically low interest rates and a shortage of housing supply, however, appear to be limiting the extent of the downturn. There are increasing signs that activity levels are now stabilising and house prices are broadly static at a national level."

(KMcA/GB)

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