Nationwide blames April slowdown on ‘affordability pressures’ on back of high mortgage rates
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UK house prices have fallen unexpectedly in April for a second consecutive month, according to the building society Nationwide, as interest rate uncertainty and more expensive mortgages put a dampener on the traditional spring homebuying season.
With some economists saying that two month-to-month falls in the closely watched index “start to look like a trend”, and new fixed mortgage rates continuing to creep up, the data will put further pressure on the Bank of England before next week’s interest rate announcement.
