Average house price hits £216,000 despite a monthly FALL in prices
House prices are still up 4.34% year-on-year but experts claim that dip in monthly prices means the property market is slowing down.
HOUSES prices FELL by 0.6 per cent last month while annual growth in property values slowed to its weakest level since 2013, according to official figures.
The typical UK property value was £216,000 in March, according to the Office for National Statistics, the Land Registry and other bodies.
House prices are still up 4.34 per cent year-on-year but experts claim that dip in monthly prices means the property market is slowing down.
Some property boffins pointed to signs of a "Brexit-related" slowdown, while others said house prices simply could not continue rising at some of the high levels seen in recent years.
There are also signs of a shift in the regions which are now driving house price growth, away from London.
The pace of house price growth continued to slow down on an annual basis, with a 4.1 per cent increase in March, following a 5.6 per cent rise in February.
This marked the weakest annual growth rate since October 2013.
The price paid for a typical first-time buyer home also decreased month-on-month, by 0.4 per cent. First-time buyers now pay around £182,407 on average, which is still 4.4 per cent higher than a year ago.
In England, house prices have increased by 4.4 per cent over the 12 months to March 2017, with the average price in England now at £233,000.
MOST READ IN MONEY
Last month, house prices dipped in London by 1.46 per cent, while average prices also fell in the north west, east, south east and south west of England.
But the capital continues to be the region with the highest average house price at £472,000, followed by the South East and East of England, which stand at £312,000 and £277,000 respectively.
The lowest average price is in the North of England at £122,000.
Richard Snook, a senior economist at PwC, said: "In a reversal of the normal regional pattern, the south of England showed some of the softest growth with price inflation of 2.8 per cent in the South West, 3.8 per cent in the South East and just 1.5 per cent in London.
"This is the weakest figure for London since March 2012.
"These figures are consistent with the Brexit-related slowdown that we anticipated last year and our guidance of 2 per cent to 5 per cent growth this year."
Wales saw house prices increase by 4.3 per cent over the previous 12 months to stand at £148,000.
In Scotland, the average price increased by 0.7 per cent over the year to reach £137,000.
The average price in Northern Ireland stands at £124,000, having increased by 4.3 per cent over the year.
Mark Harris, chief executive of mortgage broker SPF Private Clients, said the housing market in March was "bound to be quieter compared with a year ago", as last spring saw a rush of buy-to-let investors trying to beat a stamp duty hike imposed in April 2016.
Sarah Beeny, owner of estate agent Tepilo, said: "The slowdown in house price growth we are seeing is simply due to the fact that house prices cannot continue rising at the rates we have seen over the past few years.
"If the large rises we've experienced in recent years continued, the average house price would be almost double what it is now in 10 years' time, and that's just not realistic."
We pay for your stories! Do you have a story for The Sun Online Money team? Email us at [email protected] or call 0207 78 24516