New housing data provided by the Nationwide is painting a fresh picture of what is occurring during the first part of the New Year. House price growth has cooled overall as March featured prices growing by a meager 0.1%. The overall annual rate of growth now sits at just slightly more than 5%. The recent high for rate of growth was in June of 2014. It was slightly under 12%.

According to the Nationwide, the average price of a UK home now sits at just under £190,000. This is 2% above prices in the pre-crisis era.

The London market has cooled off noticeably, whilst other parts of the UK are seeing a higher growth rate of house prices. The north of England has seen the largest increase in house prices. Over the course of the first quarter of the year, prices have increased by 2.5%. The average price of a house there sits at £125,299.

On the lending front, remortgages are expected to increase at the conclusion of the general election, along with original loan activity. The year started slowly and many are hesitating to see the results of the election and the impact they could have on the base rate.

Nationwide’s chief economist, Robert Gardner, commented on the current state of house prices, saying: “While house price growth has moderated across the UK, there is still significant regional variation. Prices in London and the south of England continued to see the strongest rates of annual growth, though there was a noticeable softening this quarter, particularly in London.

“Price growth also continued to cool in the north-west of England, Scotland and Wales, even though prices in these regions remain some way below their 2007 peak.”