Further gloom for house prices

The average UK house price in the UK fell by 0.2 per cent between February and March, according to the latest Hometrack survey.

This small decrease saw annual price growth fall to just 0.4 per cent, the lowest recorded level since March 2006, and down from the 1.4 per cent recorded in February.

In a unique feature of the survey Hometrack also found prices fell in 28.8 per cent of UK postcodes.

However, the survey highlighted a continued improvement in both levels of demand and transaction levels.

Last month Hometrack’s survey reported the first increase in new buyer registrations since June 2007, and this trend continued, to a lesser extent over March - with a 1.2 per cent increase in the number of buyers registering with agents.

Furthermore, the survey also identified an eight per cent increase in sales agreed over the month - after a 20 per cent increase over February.

The average time to sell a property remained unchanged at eight and a half weeks weeks.

“Some bounce-back in market activity was inevitable after what has been a prolonged period of weak market activity,” commented Richard Donnell, director of research at Hometrack.

“However the growth in demand over the last two months is only a third of the level seen in previous years so the spring market is likely to be a non event this year.”