The housing market remained buoyant during March with prices increasing by 1.9 per cent, Swindon-based Nationwide said today.
But growth over the past few months has moderated, with the cost of property rising by 4 per cent during the first quarter of 2003, compared with gains of around 6.5 per cent during each of the previous three quarters, the building society said.
Alex Bannister, Nationwide's group economist, said: "There has been much speculation about the housing market slowdown, but our index suggests that house price growth remains buoyant although the trend over the last few months has moderated."
Annual house price inflation increased slightly during March to 26.2 per cent, while the average property now costs £122,180.
The increase is in line with figures published yesterday by Halifax, Britain's biggest mortgage lender, which showed a 1.1 per cent rise.
Nationwide said that it still expected the cost of property to increase by 10 per cent in 2003, with growth slowing during the remainder of the year to average around 0.6 per cent a month.
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