House prices fall at fastest rate since 2009

House prices fell 1.7% in May from the previous month to an average of £218,902, the largest monthly fall for 11 years, according to Nationwide. The annual growth rate slowed to 1.8%, down from 3.7% in April and the slowest since December. Recent Nationwide research indicated that one in eight people had put off moving because of the lockdown. The drop in Nationwide's house price index in May "is just the start of a protracted decline over the remainder of this year," said Samuel Tombs, chief UK economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics. Nationwide said potential buyers were now planning to wait six months on average before looking to enter the market, and 12% of the population had put off moving because of the lockdown.

The Times (02/06/2020)   Daily Mail (02/06/2020)   The Guardian (02/06/2020)   City AM (02/06/2020)