UK house prices fell in April
In a bitter blow for those who expected the UK property sector to take the UK economy out of recession, it was revealed that house prices fell in April negating much of the boost to confidence from the apparent rise in March. It was also revealed that Nationwide, among others in the financial sector, believes that the UK property sector is likely to take some time to recover with no quick fix on the horizon.
This is also a bitter blow to the government, after Gordon Brown and Alistair Darling began to try and inject more confidence into the UK economy. The ongoing issues with swine flu, and the potential of a pandemic, are a further negative factor to be considered in the short to medium term. In some ways, a damping of expectations after the sudden increase in confidence in March may not be such a bad thing and could in fact lead the way towards a more steady improvement in the economy rather than increased volatility, which makes forecasting very difficult.
It is however worth noting that in March we saw the Nationwide report and the Halifax report indicating different directions for the UK property market, and the same could happen again this month. We await further clarification in the short term although many believe that the reported increase in property prices in March may have been something of a rogue month.
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