Residential property prices in Britain suffered their biggest monthly fall for nearly a decade in March.

That is according to figures from Nationwide, the UK’s largest mortgage lender. The value of the average home dropped by 0.6%, its fastest rate since June 1995. On an annual basis property price inflation is now at 7.9%, compared with 10.2% in February. A Nationwide economist said: “The market is starting to cool down.” He added that UK buyers seem to be reluctant to enter the property market with interest rates at their highest level in three years. The Bank of England has put up the cost of borrowing five times in the 10 months up until last August in order to contain inflation. The feeling now among economists is this reduces the chance of an early interst rate increase.

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