House Price Fall in March

House Price Fall in March.

Surprise figures have been released by Halifax via their latest house price index suggesting that property prices fell by 1.1% overall for the month of March 2014 compared to February.

House prices on the year are still up by 8.7% and 2.3% for the last quarter. 

This was only the third fall in the last 15ths.

The average house price is £178,249.

Comment

The slight fall appears to indicate a marginal slowing of housing activity.  This can be attributed to two things: 

1. The Mortgage Market Review comes into force this month where both lenders and mortgage brokers have much stricter rules to comply with in a similar way to financial advisers and fees disclosure
2. Property seekers are being more selective now as property prices have increased and possibly there is an element of negotiation on sale price.
3. We still have the winter hangover of storms and the like that may have restricted more home viewings and offers in January and February.

With better weather on its way and there still being a major home shortage, we see house prices still continuing to rise but perhaps at a slower pace for the coming year.