Residential property prices remain marginally lower than they were a year ago, according to the latest figures from the Office for National Statistics.

The ONS revealed on Thursday that the average UK house price rose by 0.4% between January and February, but remained 0.2% down on a 12 months earlier.

The average residential property price price stood at £281,262 in February 2024, up from £280.660 this time last year.

Industry reactions:

Iain McKenzie, CEO of The Guild of Property Professionals, commented: “Sellers will be delighted by another month of modest house price growth and this trend could continue as we move through the busy spring and summer months.

“A return to annual growth is now within reach after a difficult year for homeowners in 2023, many of whom may have felt that they had missed a window of opportunity to sell their property.

“Buyers may not be as excited about the prospect of house prices increasing, but it should be reassuring to know that any purchases made now are unlikely to lose value immediately after they exchange.”

Jason Tebb, president of OnTheMarket, said: “Property prices and transactions are picking up month-on-month, while stock levels are at their highest for at least two years.

“Our own data shows that strong levels of confidence prevail among buyers and sellers, with another dip in inflation further fuelling hopes that the Bank of England will start cutting interest rates by the end of the summer.

“With a general election and all the uncertainty that brings due later this year, buyers and sellers would be wise to take advantage of the spring bounce, rather than delaying in the hope of a rate reduction.

“Sellers remain price-sensitive despite this latest average month-on-month price rise, with properties which aren’t priced sensibly unlikely to attract serious interest.”

Ed Phillips, CEO at Lomond, stated: “We’ve seen numerous indicators of returning market health in recent months but any improvement in sold prices is always going to be more measured.

So while further monthly growth suggests that we’re heading in the right direction, it may be a few months more before returning buyer activity tips the annual rate of sold price growth into positive territory.”

Anthony Codling, head of European housing and building materials for investment bank, RBC Capital Markets said: “House prices continue to sit on the fence having fallen by just £562 compared to one year ago.

“When we consider all the other economic moving parts and political machinations house prices continue to display a high level of stability and seem to be able to weather any storm thrown at them.

“This stability should encourage more people to move home and with wages currently rising faster than inflation, homebuyers may find they have a bigger budget than they thought.”

Nathan Emerson, CEO of Propertymark, remarked: “A month on month growth in house prices is a sign of prosperous green shoots on the run up to spring, which is historic for its higher demand from buyers and sellers. This is showing strength within the market and signs of a stabilising economy.

“Propertymark’s own housing insight report showed that there was an 18% increase in new properties coming to the market. Furthermore, the number of mortgage approvals made to home buyers increased from 56,100 in January to 60,400 in February, according to recent Bank of England figures, showing that all signs are pointing in the right direction, which should provide aspiring or current homeowners with the confidence they deserve right now.”

Matt Thompson, head of sales at Chestertons, noted: “Although some buyers waited for the Spring Budget before making an offer, London’s property market remained busy throughout February. The steady growth that London property values witnessed since the beginning of the year was thereby a key trigger for house hunters wanting to finalise their search sooner rather than later.”

“In February, Chestertons advised that although it saw a 6.5% uplift in the number of properties coming onto the market, demand still outweighed supply which fuelled further price growth that month. This was confirmed by Rightmove’s House Price Indexes at the time which revealed that property prices in the capital increased by 2.8% in February vs January and 0.6% in March vs February.

Verona Frankish, CEO of Yopa, commented: “With inflation continuing to fall, homebuyers will be hoping that an interest rate cut is right around the corner and this should only add to the growing market confidence seen in recent months.

“So far this year, market momentum has been building gradually and we expect that when rates do finally fall, this growing momentum will accelerate, driving house price growth in the process.”

Marc von Grundherr, director of Benham and Reeves, added: “Further positive monthly growth is, of course, very welcome. However, it’s important to remember that given the lag in reporting sold prices, today’s figures related to February house prices and a market that has barely shaken off the impact of the Christmas lull in activity.

“What we’ve seen since is a consistent increase in mortgage approvals and growth in mortgage approved house prices and so it’s only a matter of time before the same becomes evident with respect to sold prices.”