UK house prices fall in June for first time since 2012 - Nationwide
UK house prices fell in June for the first time since 2012 as the coronavirus pandemic took its toll, according to a survey released by Nationwide on Wednesday.
On an yearly basis, house prices dipped 0.1% following a 1.8% increase in May and versus expectations of 1% growth.
On the month, prices were 1.4% lower, which was an improvement on the 1.7% drop seen in May but worse than the 0.7% decline expected.
Nationwide’s chief economist Robert Gardner said: "It is unsurprising that annual house price growth has stalled, given the magnitude of the shock to the economy as a result of the pandemic. Economic output fell by an unprecedented 25% over the course of March and April - almost four times more than during the entire financial crisis.
"Housing market activity also slowed sharply as a result of lockdown measures implemented to control the spread of the virus. While latest data from HMRC showed a slight pickup in residential property transactions from April’s low, in May they were still 50% lower than the same month in 2019."
Gardner said that while housing market activity is likely to edge higher in the near term as lockdown measures are eased further, the medium-term outlook for the housing market "remains highly uncertain".
"Much will depend on the performance of the wider economy, which will in turn be determined by how the pandemic and restrictions on activity evolve (including any behavioural shifts)," he said.