UK house prices fall unexpectedly for second month in a row

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UK home costs fell unexpectedly for the second month in a row in April, in keeping with knowledge from lender Nationwide, reflecting the current rise in mortgage charges.

Home costs fell 0.4 per cent between March and April following a 0.2 per cent drop in March, lacking the 0.2 per cent growth forecast by economists. This was the most important month-on-month contraction since August 2023, when mortgage charges reached their peak.

“The slowdown probably displays ongoing affordability pressures, with long term rates of interest rising in current months, reversing the steep fall seen across the flip of the yr,” stated Robert Gardner, Nationwide’s chief economist.

Swap charges, on which mortgage pricing is predicated, have risen in current months in response to markets reassessing how quickly they anticipate the Bank of England to start out reducing rates of interest from a 16-year excessive of 5.25 per cent. That reverses the autumn in mortgage charges from their peak final summer time.

Ranald Mitchell, director at dealer Charwin Non-public Purchasers stated: “The ebullience at first of the yr has been slowly eroded as mortgage charges have edged up.”

“Provide has improved, however the dwindling confidence available in the market will solely be resolved by a base fee minimize,” he added.

Imogen Pattison, economist at Capital Economics, stated she anticipated mortgage charges to hover round their April stage, “retaining demand subdued” and stopping “renewed positive factors in home costs within the close to time period”.

Nonetheless, as she forecast the BoE’s benchmark fee to fall greater than most this yr, “the drop in mortgage charges additional forward will imply home costs are prone to begin rising once more,” she added.

Information printed by the BoE on Tuesday confirmed that the common two-year quoted mortgage with a 60 per cent mortgage to worth elevated to 4.81 per cent in March from 4.62 per cent in February, however remained nicely beneath its current peak of 6.22 per cent in July 2023.

This helped assist the restoration of mortgage approvals to an 18-month high in March, the BoE knowledge confirmed. Nonetheless, Nationwide knowledge suggests it’s hitting home costs.

The lender stated home costs rose 0.6 per cent yr on yr in April, down from 1.6 per cent in March and the bottom progress fee since January, after they had been nonetheless falling. Home costs fell yr on yr for many of 2023 reflecting rising borrowing prices.

The common home worth was £262,000 in April, Nationwide stated, down from a peak of £274,000 in August 2022. That was nonetheless about £50,000 above the extent in February 2020, earlier than the pandemic, reflecting the quick worth progress when rates of interest had been at file lows.

The housing market was struggling a “subdued interval in the mean time”, stated Karen Noye, mortgage professional at wealth supervisor Quilter. Nonetheless, the prospect of a fee minimize and decrease mortgage charges might make buying a property “extra enticing to potential patrons who’ve been caught in ‘wait and see’ mode”, she added.