House prices take a fall in the winter snow during February

According to figures released today by Nationwide, the price of a typical UK property fell by a 1% month-on-month in February. This ends the nine month run of gradual increases in house prices.

Commenting on these figures, Martin Gahbauer, Nationwide's Chief Economist, said:

“The price of a typical UK property fell by a seasonally adjusted 1.0% month-on-month (m/m) in February, ending a strong run of nine consecutive monthly increases. The relatively smoother three month on three month rate of inflation remained positive at +1.6%, though this is down from +2.0% in January and a peak of +3.7% in September 2009. The annual rate of price inflation still managed to increase from 8.6% to 9.2% year-on-year, as this month’s fall was smaller than the 1.5% m/m decline recorded in February 2009. The average price of a typical property sold in the UK during February was £161,320."


Key Points:

•Property prices fell by 1.0% month-on-month in February
•The decline could be explained by the expiry of stamp duty holiday and snowy weather
•An increase in the number of properties available for sale has helped to reduce slightly the
imbalance between supply and demand
•Too early to determine whether February’s figures represent the start of a new trend



Source: Nationwide House Price Index

For more information on the house prices, the index methodology, and time series data and archives of housing research see Nationwide