–Nationwide: UK Aug House Prices -0.9% m/m; +3.9% y/y
–Nationwide: UK Aug y/y House Price Rise Lowest since Nov09
LONDON (MNI) – UK house prices fell for the second consecutive
month in August, the first time they have done so since February 2009,
according to the latest Nationwide House Price Index.
The Nationwide house price survey is the third to be published for
August and joins Hometrack and Rightmove in reporting accelerating
monthly price declines.
The Nationwide survey showed August house prices up 3.9% on the
year, compared to up 6.6% on the year in July, the lowest outturn since
November 2009 when prices rose 2.7%.
The 3-month on 3-month change in prices ground to a halt in August,
coming in flat, despite a 1.2% increase in the same measure in July.
Nationwide’s chief economist said house prices have essentially
stagnated over the summer and that unless they bounce back strongly in
September, the three month rate of change will turn negative next month.
UK house prices in the Nationwide series fell just over 19% from
peak to trough. They then saw their first monthly rise in March 2009,
and have risen in 14 of the sixteen months since then.
But there is growing evidence that fears over the impact of fiscal
austerity is preventing potential home buyers from entering the market
and creating an increasingly stark supply-demand imbalance.
“As more sellers have returned to the market, buyers have a greater
selection of properties to choose from and more bargaining power with
which to bid down asking prices,” Martin Gahbauer, Nationwide’s chief
economist, said.
But price falls were likely to remain modest, Gahbauer continued:
“The current period of price declines is likely to remain
relatively modest. Given that the price increases of the last year had
gotten ahead of the recovery in the wider economy, the current
correction is not an unhealthy development.”
–London newsroom: 4420 7862 7491; email: wwilkes@marketnews.com
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