According to Nationwide, property prices went up last month – or down.
The building society said that house prices had gone up 0.5% in January compared with December.
It also said that house prices had gone down, albeit by only £17 – from £162,262 to £162,245.
The answer to this small but vital disparity, lies of course in our old friend ‘seasonal adjustment’ (not to be confused with SAD, when you get depressed during winter).
Nationwide prefers the seasonally adjusted version of its own data, which had its chief economist Robert Gardner stating: “UK house prices increased by 0.5% in January, though prices were unchanged compared with January 2012.”
He went on: “While activity in the housing market remains muted by historic standards, there have been tentative signs of a pick-up in activity in recent months.
“The Funding for Lending Scheme has achieved some success in bringing down mortgage rates, with some signs of a pick up in lending activity.”
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