House price drop slows further in March - RICS

Published 12th Apr 2011

The decline in house prices in England and Wales slowed further in March, with prices in London rising for a second straight month, the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors said on Tuesday.

RICS's March seasonally adjusted house price balance rose to -23 from -26, improving for the fifth month running and coming in marginally higher than economists' forecasts of a reading of -24.

For a second month, London was the only area where the number of surveyors reporting rising prices outweighed those seeing lower prices.

"The low level of buyer interest in many parts of the UK continues to impact on the market, resulting in some downward pressure on prices," RICS spokesman Ian Perry said in a statement.

"With the prospect of forthcoming interest rate rises and continued shortage of mortgage funding, it seems that overall recovery for the national housing market is still some way off," he said.

Last week, weak construction output volumes in February dampened hopes of a strong recovery for the overall economy in the first quarter after a shock contraction in gross domestic product in the final three months of 2010.

Mortgage lender Halifax also said last week house prices were down 2.9 percent in the three months to March compared with the same period last year. Most economists agree that house prices will dip this year.

Source: ' Reuters '

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