Proactive Investors - The housing market continued to show mixed signals in March, according to Nationwide's monthly house price index.
UK house prices were up 1.6% compared with a year ago, compared to 1.2% growth in February.
But on a monthly basis prices were down 0.2%, following 0.7% growth the month before.
Robert Gardner, Nationwide's chief economist, said prices fell after taking account of seasonal effects.
Although buying and selling activity has picked up from the quiet period late last year, he said it remained "relatively subdued by historic standards".
"For example, the number of mortgages approved for house purchase in January was around 15% below pre-pandemic levels," Gardner said.
"This largely reflects the impact of higher interest rates on affordability. While mortgage rates are below the peaks seen in mid-2023, they remain well above the lows prevailing in the wake of the pandemic."
He noted that there had been a pick-up in new buyer enquiries and new instructions to sell in recent months, but stressed that the pace of the recovery is likely to be heavily influenced by the trajectory of interest rates.
With overall UK inflation continuing to ease, the Bank of England signalled last month that it could move to reduce rates before long, with financial markets expecting a cut in June or August.
Nationwide's regional data showed some areas saw annual price declines, there was an improvement in the year-on-year rate across all areas.
In England, prices in the first quarter of 2024 were up 0.4% compared with a year earlier, with prices in the north and north-west of the country performing best, bouncing back with 4.1% and 2.9% annual growth after falls in the final quarter of last year.
London's annual price growth recovered to 1.6% after a 2.4% fall recorded in the final quarter of 2023.
House prices were down most in the south-west of England, down 1.7%, followed by East Anglia, down 1.3%, the south-east outside London, down 1%, and the outer metropolitan area (Basildon, Brentwood, Buckinghamshire, Chelmsford, Crawley, Dartford, Epping Forest, etc), down 0.6%. All these regions saw declines ease compared to the sharp falls in the last quarter of 2023.
Northern Ireland prices continued to grow for a successive quarter, with prices up 4.6%, while prices in Scotland bounced back 3.7% and Wales saw a 1.2% recovery.