House prices fall for first time in six months – but still higher than year ago

HOUSE prices fell in March for the first time in six months, according to Halifax.

The lender said they slipped by one per cent compared to the previous month, and a typical home now costs £288,430.

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Prices are still 0.3 per cent higher than a year ago, however.

The drop comes after mortgage rates started to creep back up again as banks and building societies adjusted to more cautious expectations of interest rate cuts.

At the start of the year, financial markets had been betting the Bank of England would cut rates as soon as May.

But that has now been pushed back to June — or even August — after the Bank kept the base rate at 5.25 per cent.

Kim Kinnaird, director of Halifax Mortgages, said: “Markets are less optimistic about base rate cuts.

“This has stalled the decline in mortgage rates that drove market activity earlier in the year.”

Jonathan Hopper, boss of Garrington Property Finders, said: “In some areas the number of homes coming on to the market is four times higher than the number of new buyers registering with estate agents — and this surge in supply is also holding back prices.”

While house prices have dipped they are still around 20 per cent higher than before the pandemic and mortgage rates almost double where they were in 2021.

WFH sideline

STAFF operating entirely from home are 11 per cent less likely to be be promoted than those working from the office, research indicates.

And those doing two or three days in the office are seven per cent less likely to step up the ladder, according to a survey of 1,000 managers by the University of Warsaw.

Body save bid

THE Body Shop may be saved in a restructuring plan that puts it back in private equity hands.

The beauty retailer collapsed four months after Aurelius bought it.

Now administrators have put forward a plan to creditors which would reduce rents but keep the remaining 115 stores open.

Good Week

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Bad Week

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This post first appeared on thesun.co.uk