UK house prices registered the largest decline in more than a decade last month as higher interest rates and the wider cost of living crisis hit demand, according to a closely watched survey.
Property prices fell 1.1 per cent in February compared with the same month last year, the biggest drop since November 2012, and a reverse of a 1.1 per cent increase in January, mortgage provider Nationwide said on Wednesday. Economists polled by Reuters had expected a fall of 0.9 per cent.
It was the first annual contraction since June 2020 when the housing market was effectively shut during the Covid-19 lockdown. Robert Gardner, Nationwide’s chief economist, said the drop in prices reflected low buyer confidence “as well as the cumulative impact of the financial pressures that have been weighing on households for some time”.