House hunters put off their search by bad weather and the end of the
government's stamp duty holiday has led to the first falls in house
prices for ten months, the Nationwide building society said today (February 26th).

The average house lost over £2,000 in value in February, as the Nationwide house price index fell by one per cent compared with January.

This follows nine months of inflation and an accelerated annual rate of increase of 9.2 per cent.

Overall, the average property price has increased from £147,820 this
time last year to £161,320 this month.

The house price index is based on its mortgage approvals. RBS
indicated that mortgage borrowers were going for variable rate home loans, instead of fixed-rate deals, as they expected interest rates to stay low.

Martin Gahbauer, chief economist for Nationwide, said, "A pause in the
upward trend will be a relief to potential first-time buyers who are no longer benefiting from the stamp duty holiday and for whom affordability had begun to deteriorate again over the course of 2009."