Nationwide: house prices fall in February
Slight drop in house prices, according to Nationwide House Price Index.
UK house prices fell by 0.1% between January and February, according to the latest figures from Nationwide.
Nationwide’s index shows the average price of a home in the UK has dropped from £188,446 to £187,964.
The drop means that the annual rate of house price growth has dropped too, from 6.8% to 5.7%.
House price growth
Here’s how house prices have changed over the past 12 months, according to the Nationwide House Price Index.
|
Monthly change % (seasonally adjusted) |
Annual % change |
Average house price |
|
|
February 2014 |
0.8% |
9.4% |
£177,846 |
|
March 2014 |
0.5% |
9.5% |
£180,264 |
|
April 2014 |
1.2% |
10.9% |
£183,577 |
|
May 2014 |
0.7% |
11.1% |
£186,512 |
|
June 2014 |
1.0% |
11.8% |
£188,903 |
|
July 2014 |
0.2% |
10.6% |
£188,949 |
|
August 2014 |
0.8% |
11.0% |
£189,306 |
|
September 2014 |
-0.1% |
9.4% |
£188,374 |
|
October 2014 |
0.6% |
9.0% |
£189,333 |
|
November 2014 |
0.3% |
8.5% |
£189,388 |
|
December 2014 |
0.2% |
7.2% |
£188,559 |
|
January 2015 |
0.3% |
6.8% |
£188,446 |
|
February 2015 |
-0.1% |
5.7% |
£187,964 |
Source: Nationwide
What’s behind the slowdown?
Nationwide says mortgage rates remain close to all-time lows and buyers are confident thanks further improvements in the labour market.
But despite the positive economic situation, the market has remained subdued.
This is partly down to the small number of mortgages being approved for house purchase, though there was a 2% increase in approvals from November to December. However Nationwide says it’s too early to determine if this will be a turning point.
Home ownership
Nationwide’s latest index also revealed home ownership is now at its lowest rate for almost thirty years and there’s been a sharp decline in the proportion of younger owner occupiers.
Among 25-34 year olds, traditionally the segment containing the most first-time buyers, the proportion owning their home fell from 59% to 36% between 2004 and 2014.
Over the same period the proportion renting increased from 41% to 64%.
However, Robert Gardner, Nationwide’s Chief Economist, is optimistic about things rebalancing.
He said: “Despite the increase in the proportion of the population renting a home in recent years, the aspiration to eventually become a homeowner remains undiminished.”
The English Housing Survey suggests that 25% of people in social housing and 61% of those in the private rental sector expect to able to buy their own home in the future.
More on property:
Mortgage price war: fix your rate at just 1.18%
CrowdLords: invest in buy-to-let without a mortgage
Council tenants to be offered up to £30,000 to buy a property
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