Hometrack: UK House Price Growth Slows To 2-Year Low In March
LONDON (Dow Jones)–U.K. house prices fell for the sixth consecutive month in March, with the annual rate of growth slowing to its weakest level in two years, and are likely to remain under pressure in the months ahead, Hometrack said Monday.
The housing research and valuation company said house prices fell 0.2% in March and were 0.4% higher on the year, the weakest 12-month change since March 2006. In February, prices also fell 0.2% on the month and were 1.4% stronger on the year.
Hometrack said there was a 1.2% increase in the number of buyers registering with housing agents in March. New buyer registrations rose 7.9% in February, the first rise in the measure since June 2007.
There was also an 8% increase in sales agreed in March, after a 20% rise in February, and the average time to sell a property was stable at 8.5 weeks, it said.
But, Hometrack Director of Research Richard Donnell said some bounce in market activity was inevitable after the recent period of weakness, and growth in demand over the last two months was only a third of the level reported in previous years.
"Indeed, the likelihood of any sustained increase in demand over the spring period is very limited," he said in a statement.
"Continued uncertainty in the financial markets, affordability pressures and weak buyer confidence are all likely to suppress levels of market activity in the months ahead with pricing levels remaining under pressure," Donnell said.
Hometrack continued to forecast a 17% drop in transaction volumes this year, with buying being driven by those who have to move for job or financial reasons and by those who have small mortgages and view the current market slowdown as an opportunity to purchase.
The U.K. housing market began to slow in the latter half of last year after the BOE raised its main interest rate 125 basis points between August 2006 and July 2007 in an effort to slow inflation, and after the global credit crisis began to affect the mortgage market.
The BOE has since lowered rates 50 basis points to 5.25% as it tries to balance the impact on inflation from an expected economic slowdown and higher fuel and commodity prices. Economists expect the BOE to deliver at least another two 25-basis-point cuts this year.
The following table compares house price surveys by major U.K. housing institutions.
March February On Mo On Yr On Mo On Yr Nationwide -0.6% +1.1% -0.5% +2.7% Halifax N/A N/A -0.3 +4.2% Rightmove +0.8% +5.0% +3.2% +5.8% Hometrack -0.2 +0.4 -0.2% +1.4%
-By Nicholas Winning, Dow Jones Newswires; +44 20 7842 9254; nick.winning@dowjones.com