Nationwide Reports 0.5% Fall in House Prices

House prices fell for a fourth consecutive month in February despite a further cut in interest rates, taking the annual rate of house price inflation down to its lowest in two years, a survey showed on Friday. Nationwide, the mortgage lender, said house prices fell 0.5 per cent this month, lower than expected, and revised down its estimate of prices in January, taking the annual growth rate from 4.2 per cent in January to a two-year low of 2.7 per cent.

Fionnuala Earley, Nationwide’s chief economist, said the drop in annual growth could overstate the pace of cooling since it partly reflected a surge in prices in February 2007. However, prices on Nationwide’s index have now dropped 1 per cent in the last three months compared with the previous three months. Continued weakness in house prices comes as little surprise, given continued worries over credit conditions, housing affordability and a slowing economy. Recent data suggest that numbers of mortgage approvals and enquiries from new buyers remain well below levels at the start of last autumn. “It seems clear that we will not see recent rates of growth, in either the UK economy or housing market, repeated for some time,” Ms Earley said. But she noted that, unlike the situation in the US, stocks of property on UK surveyors’ books were not yet “at levels that have been consistent with systematic falls in prices in the past”.

The downbeat tone of the nationwide report sent the euro to its highest level against the pound. Expectations of further interest rate cuts from the Bank of England helped the euro rise to Euro Pounds £0.7648 compared to £0.759 on Thursday
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Nationwide is forecasting house prices will remain flat over the whole of 2008, while many economists are predicting year-on-year price falls. Kate Barker, the monetary policy committee member, recently said prices were likely to decline in the short term relative to earnings, while falls in nominal terms could not be ruled out. The weak outlook for house prices did not stop the property company Rightmove being bullish on growth prospects. The website owner argued online advertising was the most cost-effective way for estate agents to reach potential buyers in a tougher market. The number of advertisers on its site had grown by 18 per cent last year, contributing to a 77 per cent rise in pretax profits to £31.4m, Rightmove said.

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