UK House Prices Fall More Than Expected

(RTTNews) - UK house price declined more than expected in April following the end of stamp duty holidays, data from the Nationwide Building Society showed Wednesday.

House prices logged a monthly drop of 0.6 percent after remaining flat in March. The decline was worse than economists' forecast of 0.1 percent.

On a yearly basis, house price growth eased to 3.4 percent from 3.9 percent in the previous month. The expected rate of decline was 4.1 percent.

Early indications suggested that there was a significant jump in transactions in March, with buyers bringing forward their purchases to avoid additional tax obligations, Nationwide Chief Economist Robert Gardner said.

Although the market is set to remain a little soft in the coming months after the end of stamp duty holidays, activity is likely to pick up steadily as summer progresses, Gardner observed.

Despite wider economic uncertainties in the global economy, underlying conditions for potential home buyers in the UK remain supportive, said Gardner.

"Unemployment remains low, earnings are rising at a healthy pace in real terms (i.e. after accounting for inflation), household balance sheets are strong and borrowing costs are likely to moderate a little if Bank Rate is lowered further in the coming quarters as we and most other analysts expect," the economist added.