"Whilst not earth shattering by any means, what is encouraging is that they do rather point towards a housing market that remains resilient "
The data shows that Northern Ireland remained the strongest performing area in Q1, although annual price growth softened to 3.3%, from 5.8% last quarter. Scotland saw a slight pick up in annual price growth to 2.4%, while Wales saw a marked slowing in growth to 0.9% from 4.0% last quarter.
Meanwhile, England recorded its first annual price fall since 2012, with prices down 0.7% compared with Q1 2018, driven by declines in the South East of England.
London was the weakest performing region in Q1, with prices 3.8% lower than the same period of 2018 – the fastest pace of decline since 2009 and the seventh consecutive quarter in which prices have declined in the capital.
Robert Gardner, Nationwide's chief economist, said: “Indicators of housing market activity, such as the number of property transactions and the number of mortgages approved for house purchase, have remained broadly stable in recent months, even though survey data suggests that sentiment has softened.
“Measures of consumer confidence weakened around the turn of the year and surveyors report that new buyer enquiries have continued to decline, falling to their lowest level since 2008 in February.
“While the number of properties coming onto the market has also slowed, this doesn’t appear to have been enough to prevent a modest shift in the balance of demand and supply in favour of buyers in recent months."
Sam Mitchell, CEO of Housesimple, commented: "Monthly figures are starting to show a common theme, with positive growth in the Midlands and north of England and negative growth in and around London.
"This is likely to be the pattern for the foreseeable future, until the EU situation is resolved at least, as the impact of protracted Brexit negotiations drags more heavily on the London market.
"The market would have preferred a decision one way or the other. Instead, we are now in this state of short-term limbo leaving many buyers and sellers unsure what to do.
"Normally, we would expect to see a spike in transaction levels around this time as we enter the traditional Spring bounce period, but with the extension to the EU leaving date, the bounce is likely to be a little subdued this year.
"Saying that, savvy sellers could see this as a short window of opportunity to steal a march on the competition, as more homeowners choose to wait and see what happens with Brexit negotiations in the next few weeks before marketing."
Brian Murphy, head of lending at Mortgage Advice Bureau, added: “The data released by the Nationwide this morning reports topline growth figures which continue to show modest increases, both on an annualised and month-on-month basis. Whilst not earth shattering by any means, what is encouraging is that they do rather point towards a housing market that remains resilient amidst the ongoing political and economic uncertainty.
However, looking at the regional figures, we can see the nuanced picture that has been evident for quite some time is still very much the same. Half of the regions are still reporting over 2% annual growth – in fact, Northern Ireland has seen over 3% annual growth in the last month – whilst in other regions, particularly London and the South East, values continue to wane. The trend that Nationwide observes of a reducing number of vendors listing their properties over the past few weeks could well be a factor in terms of a lack of available homes providing support for values, particularly in areas where demand remains consistent. Whilst the UK housing market seems to be stuck in a holding pattern, it would appear that the fundamentals remain robust for the moment, even if many are delaying making a move until a Brexit denouement is reached.”
