British house price inflation slowed to its lowest rate in 20 months, according to a leading mortgage lender today.
The average price of a house in Britain was £85,077 sterling (£108,000) in March, or 7.2 per cent higher than a year ago, the Nationwide Building Society said today. That was the lowest annual rise since July 1999.
Nationwide said the slowdown in annual house price inflation - a key determinant of wealth and consumer spending in a country where nearly three quarters of families own their own homes - was due to a comparison with very strong price rises in the first quarter of last year.
"The current figures are consistent with the steady downward trend in annual house price inflation which has been in place for the last 11 months," said Nationwide's Mr David Parry.
Mr Parry said the new figures were in line with Nationwide's forecast of house price rises of 7 per cent this year. House prices rose by 9.3 per cent last year, according to Nationwide's figures.
It also estimated the recent foot-and-mouth farming crisis could shave the national annual house price rises by as much as 0.5 percentage point as it dissuades house-hunting in rural areas and has a short-term impact on jobs in the farming and tourist industries.