…in March, for the first time since October 2007 , according to the latest survey from the Nationwide.
But is this just a dead cat bounce or something more significant?
Nationwide is hedging its bets.
The moderation in the annual rate of fall is somewhat distorted by conditions last year and so it would be unwise to draw strong conclusions from the significant slowdown in the annual rate of fall. Equally, while the rise in prices in March is welcome, it is far too soon to see this as evidence that the trough of the market has been reached. The Bank of England has already taken strong measures to ease the tensions in economic and financial markets by cutting rates and commencing quantitative easing. However it will take time for these to work through into the housing market before we can expect a sustained recovery in house prices.
And Howard Archer at IHS Global Insight reckons it is important not to read too much into March’s gain.
As Nationwide point out themselves. House prices can be very volatile on a month-to-month basis, and the Nationwide data still show that house prices fell by 4.2% quarter-on-quarter in the first quarter of 2009, which was only modestly down from the 4.7% quarter-on-quarter drop seen in the fourth quarter of 2008.
Related link:
Nationwide sees bounce in house prices – FT.com