UK house prices declined in the three months to March, after also declining in February, according to figures from the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (RICS). The RICS housing report revealed that a net 25pc of 287 property firms surveyed said house prices declined in the three months to March. In the three months to February, a net 9pc reported a drop in prices. RICS said this marked the first consecutive drop in prices since January/February 1996. "Buyers remain wary as they await end of war in Iraq," the Institute said in a statement.
The drop in prices in the RICS survey contrasts with continued house price inflation reported by the Halifax and Nationwide surveys for March. The Halifax survey showed a seasonally adjusted 1.1pc month-on-month gain in prices, while Nationwide's survey reported a 1.9pc gain. On a year-on-year, the increases were 23.4pc and 26.2pc respectively. Meanwhile, home sales for the three months through March fell 12pc from the fourth quarter of 2002, and were down 21pc on year earlier levels. The stock of homes for sale increased 9pc amid the slowing demand, rising to the highest level since January 2002. //www.fxcentre.com