The housing market barely moved in April, judging by both the number of For Sale and Sold boards and this morning's monthly report from Nationwide.
Nationwide found house prices had inched down just 0.2% from March, but were down 1.3% over the year. The average house price is now £165,609.
Chief economist Robert Gardner said he was not anticipating any great changes ahead. He said: "Since November 2010, house prices have increased in three months and decreased in three months. It is not unusual to see a pattern of modest monthly increases and decreases when the market is fairly static."
According to estate agency sign company Agency Express, the number of For Sale boards converting to Sold were down 3.6% on March, while there was a tiny drop of 0.5% in the number of new For Sale boards going up.
The decrease in house sales in April followed two consecutive monthly rises in the number of houses ‘Sold’ but Agency Express says monthly sales are still up 1.7% on April last year and 11.5% higher than April 2009.
Wales led the way in property sales with the number of houses ‘Sold’ up 6.5%. Only four other regions saw sales increases: the South-East had a rise of 5.2%, the South-West was up 5.1%, East Anglia saw growth of 3.4% and the West Midlands improved by 0.8%. Two regions saw significant declines: Yorkshire down -22.5% and the North-West down -40.9%.
Three cities experienced double digit increases in monthly house sales. Cambridge topped the table with a rise of 26.3% followed by Exeter up 25.5% and Birmingham up 25.4%.For the second consecutive month,
Norwich saw the largest decline in monthly house sales with a dramatic fall of -40.3%. Perhaps the Canaries’ promotion to the Premiership will boost the local market.
The decrease in the number of new ‘For Sale’ instructions in April followed three consecutive monthly rises, but current levels are still 5.1% higher than April last year and 79% higher than April 2009.
Stephen Watson, managing director of Agency Express and a former estate agent, said: “Whilst housing activity has been marginally lower in April than in March, this is not unusual. In fact, since our index began, we have consistently seen a drop in house sales in April.“
The slowdown in activity is most likely to have been affected by the Easter holidays, bank holidays and Royal Wedding being so close together that people have taken the opportunity to go away on holiday or simply put their plans on hold, but it’s encouraging to note that activity levels are still higher than they were in both April 2009 and 2010.”
