The Nationwide Building Society has reported that house prices recorded their third consecutive monthly fall in May – the first time this has occurred since 2009.
The annual rate of growth slowed to 2.1%, the weakest in almost four years.
The average price of a house was £208,711 in May.
Robert Gardner, Nationwide’s chief economist, said: “It is still early days, but this provides further evidence that the housing market is losing momentum. Moreover, this may be indicative of a wider slowdown in the household sector, though data continues to send mixed signals in this regard.
“While real incomes are again coming under pressure as inflation has overtaken wage growth, the number of people in work has continued to rise at a healthy pace. Indeed, the unemployment rate fell to a 42-year low in the three months to March.
“If history is any guide, the slowdown is unlikely to be linked to election-related uncertainty. Housing market trends have not traditionally been impacted around the time of general elections. Rightly or wrongly, for most home buyers, elections are not foremost in their minds while buying or selling their home.”
Russell Quirk, CEO of eMoov.co.uk, said: “A third consecutive drop may seem like a reason to worry for UK homeowners, but house prices still continue to climb despite the slowdown in the rate of growth.
“It is unclear as to whether the market is losing momentum or if buyer demand is unseasonably hibernating due to the oncoming election, but Nationwide have been quick to highlight that previous elections have had little impact on traditional house price trends.
“It’s fair to say, however, that previous years were a tad more routine that a snap election called in the middle of negotiations to leave the EU and it is likely that the market is seeing an influence from both sides.
“House prices, along with the gap when compared to earnings, have continued to increase and such a pattern is unsustainable in the long term. It is likely that we will see the market let off a little steam and naturally adjust over the coming months and overall it should stabilise once the election dust has settled and buyer confidence returns to full force.”
