LONDON (dpa-AFX) - UK house prices declined for the second straight month in April as the property market came to a standstill after government announced lockdown to contain spread of coronavirus, data from the Lloyds Bank subsidiary Halifax and IHS Markit showed Thursday.
House prices fell 0.6 percent on a monthly basis in April, after easing 0.3 percent in March.
On a yearly basis, house price growth eased to 2.7 percent in three months to April from 3 percent in three months to March. Quarter-on-quarter, house prices advanced 0.7 percent.
With market activity currently almost at a complete standstill, the limited number of transactions available means that calculating average house prices has inevitably become more challenging, Russell Galley, managing director, Halifax, said.
This will lead to a great deal of volatility until more data becomes available, Galley added.
'The future remains uncertain and based on our current forecasting we expect short term headwinds to house prices, although we maintain our underlying confidence in the health of the housing market in the longer term,' said Galley.
Copyright RTT News/dpa-AFX
© 2020 AFX News
