UK house prices have fallen at their fastest annual rate since the aftermath of the financial crisis in 2009, with experts at Nationwide warning that the squeeze on household budgets will make it hard to regain momentum soon.
The Nationwide Building Society's house price index shows that from March of last year to March of this year, the typical property's price decreased by 3.1% to £257,122. In contrast, February saw an annual fall of 1.1%.
On a monthly basis, prices decreased as well, down 0.8% since February. It was the seventh consecutive monthly decrease, and prices are now 4.6% below their August peak, which was before Liz Truss' terrible mini-budget rattled the property market.
“Since then, activity has remained subdued – the number of mortgages approved for house purchase remained weak at 43,500 cases in February, almost 40% below the level prevailing a year ago,” Robert Gardner, Nationwide’s chief economist, said.
Given the strain on household finances caused by rising expenditures and higher mortgage rates, he predicted that the price recovery would take some time.