First house price fall in England since 2012 as buyers now "hold all the cards"

There's been no spring thaw in the property market according to the latest figures from Nationwide.

The building society's March house price index recoded a small annual rise across the UK, but problems in London and the South East dragged prices down in England overall.

And while spring has traditionally seen a return of buyers and sellers as the market picks up, that hasn't happened this year.

Nationwide's chief economist Robert Gardner said: “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, chief executive of online estate agents Housesimple, said: "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."

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On average, house prices in March were 0.7% higher than a year before at £213,102 each.

Prices in Northern Ireland were rising fastest at 3.3% higher than last year, Scotland came next with prices up 2.4%, followed by Wales (0.9% up).

But prices in England dropped 0.7% compared with the same month in 2018, the first fall since 2012.

“London was the weakest performing region," said Gardner.

"This trend is not entirely unexpected, however, as it follows several years of sustained outperformance which left affordability more stretched.

"Policy changes that have impacted the Buy to Let market in recent years are also likely to have exerted more of a drag in London, given that the private rental sector accounts for a larger proportion of the housing stock in the capital than elsewhere in the country."

But that slowness means people looking to buy have a lot of power right now.

Andrew Montlake, director of mortgage broker Coreco , said: “A growing number of prospective buyers are concluding that the current volatility is not a time to put off a purchase but bring it forward as they hold all the cards."

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And that's led to big discounts.

Jonathan Hopper, managing director of  Garrington Property Finders , said: “On the front line we’re seeing increasingly aggressive offers from buyers, who feel emboldened by their strong position and are dictating the pace of the market.

“In response, sellers who can’t wait to put their home on the market are having to recalibrate asking prices, and in many cases, accept low offers."

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Here are average house prices in the first quarter of 2019 and the annual change, according to Nationwide Building Society:

1. Northern Ireland - £142,484 - 3.3% up
2. North West - £161,535 - 2.9% up
3. East Midlands - £182,254 - 2.6% up
4. West Midlands - £189,263 - 2.5% up
5. Scotland - £147,728 - 2.4% up
6. Yorkshire and Humberside - £157,311 - 2.1% up
7. East Anglia - £225,945 - 1.7% up
8. Wales - £153,287 - 0.9% up
9. North East - £129,458 - 0.8% up
10. South West - £241,683 - 0.5% up
11. South East - £274,122 - 1.1% down
12. Home counties - £355,978 - 2% down
13. London - £455,594 - 3.8% down