Nationwide reports today that house prices fell by 0.4% in April, reversing some of the gains seen in March. The figures show a slow down in price declines, but an average home has still seen its value fall by 15% over the past year.
Prices fell by 3.1% in the quarter to end of April compared with the previous quarter.
Signs of a slight revival in the housing market were seen this morning, with a 19% jump in mortgage approvals in February.
A total of 37,937 loans were approved for people buying a home during the month, the highest level since May last year, according to the Bank of England.
Today's figures, which beat economists expectations and are well up on the recent six month average of 31,495, suggest sales may be picking up again.
Vicky Redwood, UK economist at Capital Economics, said: "February's household borrowing figures suggest that housing market activity may finally have turned a corner.
"The rise in the number of mortgage approvals for new house purchase... might suggest that the pickup in new buyer inquiries is feeding through into actual activity. With new buyer inquiries still rising, this is clearly quite promising."
But she added that approvals levels would need to broadly double before they were no longer consistent with falling house prices.
Despite the pickup, approvals for house purchase were still 44 per cent lower than in February 2008.
A further sign of the housing market showing some signs of improvement was proven by figures released from Hometrack showing a slowing in the rate of house price falls during March as activity in the market increased.
The group said house prices in England and Wales dropped by 0.6%, the lowest fall for 10 months, while both the number of potential buyers registering with agents and the number of sales agreed continued to rise.
Rents for flats have fallen for the 6th month in a row, in a further blow to buy to let landlords many of whom have seen sharp falls in the values of their properties. New build flats in city centres, which were especially popular with first-time buy to let investors, have seen sharp falls in their values, with many selling at half their original price.
The oversupply of rental flats is a major factor in the fall of rents with the supply of property increasing by 2.8% in April and by 132% than a year ago.
By contrast, the rental market for houses is faring better. The number of houses for let fell in April, with rents for larger houses rising for the 2nd month in a row.
Mortgage lending fell in March, the first such fall in 4 months, denting hopes of a recovery in the property market.
The number of mortgage approvals for purchases fell by 6.8% from February with 26,097 approvals. This figure was 25% down on March 2008.
Gross mortgage lending was down 47% on March 2008, at £8.9bn, the lowest level since April 2001.
According to the BBA, a recovery in the mortgage market is unrealistic in the current economic climate and that we are not yet at the bottom of the market for house price falls.
The number of homes sold in March increased by 40% on the February figures to 60,000 - this is compared with 43,000 in February. When adjusted for seasonal trends, there is still an increase in 13& on the month.
The data is in line with Bank of England figures showing an increase in mortgage approvals, and also findings from surveyors showing a rise in the number of enquiries from potential buyers.
Many experts are now beginning to call the bottom of the housing market, but with the caveat that the market has fallen a long way and that any recovery will be slow.
Mortgage lending rose in March, up 16% on February at £11.5bn. However this figure is half that lent in March 08. The Council of Mortgage Lenders also warned that this increase was merely a seasonal rise, reflecting the fact that more people start planning to move in the better weather.
Despite the March rise, lending in the first quarter was at its lowest since 2001.
The Council of Mortgage Lenders has warned that the rising level of negative equity is restricting houses sales in the UK. There are now 2 million homeowners with either negative equity or too little equity to finance a move.
Few lenders are currently willing to provide mortgages to those with a deposit of less than 10%. The CML estiamtes that there are 600,000 mortgage holders with less than 5% equity and another 500,000 with between 5% & 10%.
This week, new rules for Home Information Packs (HIPs) have come into force, meaning that home owners must have a HIP in place prior to putting their property on the market.
Previously sellers could market a property providing they had ordered a HIP.
The National Assoc Of Estate Agents claims that HIPs have been a waste of time, with their figures showing that 77% of buyers pay no attention to HIPs.
If you want to avoid the delays & costs of Home Informaiton Packs, considering selling your house to quickmovenow.com. As a private buyers of property, we don't require you to have a HIP in place, saving you time abnd money and allowing you to get on with your home move. For more details, call us on 0800 068 3366.
In yesterday's blog about a surprise rise in house prices in March, we warned not too read too much into the figures. Well a new house price report released today shows how mixed these reports can be.
The Halifax today reported that houses prices fell by 1.9% in March and warning that conditions would remain tough for the rest of this year.
The housing market was surprised this morning with an announcement from Nationwide that house prices actually rose in March for the first time since 2007.
Prices rose by 0.9% compared with February, reducing the annual rate of falls to 15.7%.
We would not read too much into one months' figures and it cannot conclusively call the bottom of the market.
Home owners paid off a record amount of their mortgages in the last quarter of 2008reducing total home loans by £8 billion, the biggest cash payoff since 1970 when records began.
Record low interest rates and economic uncertainty has seen home owners rein in spending and focusing on reducing debts instead.
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