House prices slightly down again, new figures show

Posted: 27 Feb 2009 11:20:10 GMT

Prospective first-time buyers have been given a boost by the news that house prices continued to fall in February.

According to the latest figures released by Nationwide, the price of an average UK property fell by 17.6 per cent over the 12 months to the end of January to £147,746.

However, this decline slowed slightly in the first month of 2009 to just 1.8 per cent, dividing opinion whether or not the market is bottoming out and buyers are getting more confident.

While Nationwide's chief economist Fionnuala Earley welcomed the fresh impetus the recent interest rate cuts have given the market, she downplayed speculation that an overall recovery has begun.

"Further cuts in [interest] rates will be welcome in the housing market, but the economic conditions that require them will mean that there is unlikely to be a swift turnaround in the housing market in 2009," she said.

At the same time, the lender's figures revealed that ever-increasing deposit sizes are prohibiting first-time buyers from obtaining a mortgage, with one in five products now on the market requiring 40 per cent of a home's value up-front.


© Houseladder Ltd