"Whether you regard it as a dive or just a dip, March’s abrupt reversal in house price momentum is a wake up call."
House prices fell by 0.3% in the month, after taking account of seasonal effects.
Robert Gardner, Nationwide's Chief Economist, describes Q1 as a "mixed picture", with six regions seeing the pace of house price growth accelerate, six seeing a deceleration and one (East Midlands) recording the same rate as the previous quarter.
The spread in the annual rate of change between the weakest and strongest performing regions was at its narrowest since 1978 at 6.8 percentage points – the second smallest gap on record.
Gardner added: “The South of England continued to see slightly stronger price growth than the North of England, but there was a further narrowing in the differential. Northern Ireland saw a slight pickup in annual house price growth, while conditions remained relatively subdued in Scotland and Wales."
Jeremy Leaf, former RICS residential chairman, commented: "The March figures from Nationwide are interesting because they confirm the trend we have seen in other surveys that house price growth is fairly stable or falling on a monthly basis and not rising as quickly when the figures are compared annually. Demand has been softening ahead of the Article 50 trigger and creating uncertainty in the market. While demand to buy is still strong, accessibility and affordability are proving illusive for many."
Jonathan Hopper, managing director of Garrington Property Finders, added: “Whether you regard it as a dive or just a dip, March’s abrupt reversal in house price momentum is a wake up call.
“It’s nearly two years since the month-on-month number was last in negative territory. But now, as then, the surprise fall in house prices was symptomatic of a listless market rather than a profound shift.
“The market has become a muddled mix of extremes, with double-digit reductions going on at one end of the spectrum and gazumping at the other.
“So it would be overly melodramatic to view the Nationwide’s latest data as a turning point. In reality, average house prices have been meandering for several months against the volatile and uncertain economic backdrop."
