1st Apr 2025 08:21
(Alliance News) - UK house prices grew at the same annual rate in March as in February, figures from mortgage lender Nationwide showed on Tuesday.
House prices advanced 3.9% on-year in the final month of the quarter, the same pace of growth as registered in February.
Prices were flat in March from February. They had risen 0.4% in February from January.
"These price trends are unsurprising, given the end of the stamp duty holiday at the end of March. Transactions associated with mortgage approvals made in March, especially toward the end of the month, would be unlikely to complete before the deadline," Nationwide analyst Robert Gardner commented.
"Indeed, the market is likely to remain a little soft in the coming months since activity will have been brought forward to avoid the additional tax obligations – a pattern typically observed in the wake of the end of stamp duty holidays."
From the end of March, the temporary increase in the zero-rate stamp duty thresholds ended. For first-time buyers of a home under GBP500,000, the zero-rate band fell to GBP300,000 from GBP425,000 currently. For other home buyers, the threshold reduced to GBP125,000 from GBP250,000. The measures were announced by UK Chancellor Rachel Reeves in the October autumn budget.
Gardner added: "Nevertheless, activity is likely to pick up steadily as the summer progresses, despite wider economic uncertainties in the global economy, since underlying conditions for potential home buyers in the UK remain supportive.
"The unemployment rate is low, earnings are rising at a healthy pace in real terms (i.e. after accounting for inflation), household balance sheets are strong and borrowing costs are likely to moderate a little if bank rate is lowered further in the coming quarters as we and most other analysts expect."
The next Bank of England interest rate decision is on May 8.
By Eric Cunha, Alliance News news editor
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