FT- house price decline is slowing

Thursday, 9 April 2009 10:31 AM

House prices fell by just 0.9 per cent in March, slowing considerably from the decline peak of 2.2 per cent in November.

According to the Financial Times House Price Index (FTHPI) released today, the average price of all property transactions completed in England and Wales in March was just 0.9 per cent lower than in February.

This was however, the thirteenth consecutive monthly of price falls.

House prices are now 13.4 per cent lower than a year ago on average, with all ten regions in England and Wales showing an annual fall. However, prices appeared to have bottomed out in Wales, with a 0% change on a monthly basis.

Dr Peter Williams, chairman of Acadametrics who undertake the research, said: "The average house price is now £200,086, back to the March 2006 level, 3 years ago.

"More positively, the FTHPI index suggests that the rate at which prices are falling is slowing."

The average price of a home is now down from the £231,824 peak in February last year. The south-east has seen the most significant fall in house prices, with the annual fall now at 14.9 per cent.

Of the 33 London boroughs, only the City of London recorded an increase at 2.6 per cent, although there are a limited number of homes there, making prices traditionally volatile.

Dr Williams added: "Much has been made of the latest mortgage approvals figures, up by 19 per cent, the Nationwide's 0.9 per cent increase in price and the slightly more positive returns from lenders regarding credit conditions over the next three months.

"However it is important not to lose sight of the low base against which this increase in approvals is measured, and to recall that Halifax reported a two per cent increase in January but a -1.9 per cent fall in March."

The house price decline was universal across England and Wales, with price falls ranging from -18.7 per cent in Ceredigion in Wales to -2.3 per cent in Rutland.

Dr Williams cautioned: "One swallow does not make a summer and the balanced view is that the evidence is mixed at present but slightly less negative."

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