Rightmove reports house prices down 0.1% in March
House price in the UK fell in April, hit by a lack of mortgage funding and a poor market in the North-West and London.
Online estate agent Rightmove reported asking prices slipped by 0.1% on average in March to £239,521. It is the first decline in the month since Rightmove started its survey in 2002 and underlines the difficulties facing the housing market.
"Unless the anticipated steps to be taken by the Bank of England are effective, potential buyers will be impotent to the seduction of lower asking prices,'' said Rightmove's Commercial Director Miles Shipside.
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In the North-West prices dropped 1.4%, while in London only the boroughs of Hackney, Kingston-upon Thames, Westminster, Islington and Tower Hamlets saw prices go up.
Today, the government announced a £50bn plan to swap bank mortgage debt for government bonds to ease the impact of the credit crunch on the housing market.
