U.K. Nationwide House Prices Rise for the First Time in 17 Months

U.K. Nationwide house prices rose by 0.9% m/m in March, while we had looked for a 1.4% m/m drop and the Reuters median was for a 1.5% m/m fall and compared to a 1.9% m/m decline in February. This is the first monthly increase to the Nationwide index since October 2007 but the mortgage lender stressed that it was too early to talk about a housing market recovery. The y/y rate improved to -15.7% from -17.6% in February. Indeed, although we have seen some encouraging signs recently of stabilized mortgage lending, the expected sharp unemployment increase this year and next is likely to continue to place downward pressure on house prices.