House prices up by 1.1% in March

In March, house prices increased by 1.1%, bringing the annual rate of house price inflation to 5.3% and the price of a typical house to £162,083. This is more than £8,000 higher than this time last year and is the equivalent to a rise of £22 per day. Nationwide claims the housing market seems to have shrugged off bad news about job losses and downside risks to economic growth, and the strength of the housing market has become one of the reasons why the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) is reluctant to reduce interest rates. Although activity levels fell back in February, the report says t...