House prices have fallen year-on-year
House prices during April are now on average one per cent less than they were 12 months ago, new data has shown. According to Nationwide's monthly house price survey, the average value of a property now stands at £178,555. This is some £1,759 less than it has been during April last year. The year on year decline was fuelled by 1.1 per cent fall during April this year and a drop of 0.7 per cent in March. Fionnuala Earley, chief economist at Nationwide, said: "April's fall in prices continues the trend of the last six months and reflects the weakening sentiment in the market brought about by poor affordability and tighter financial market conditions." Ms Earley added that this uncertainty is causing buyers to be more cautious, which has in turn impacted on the market. She explained: "The fall in transactions has pushed up the stock of unsold property on the market and improved the bargaining power of buyers, thus pushing down on prices."
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