The effect of the Bank of England's three interest rate rises began to take effect this month as underlying domestic housing demand weakened due to stretched affordability issues.
But due to a chronic lack of supply in the housing market, house price inflation continued to hold strong, increasing by 0.7 per cent on January's figure and rising to 10.2 per cent for the year, compared to just 9.3 per cent a month ago, according to research by Nationwide.
This means that the average house price in the UK is now £174,706, up from £173,225 last month, but experts believe that this is a fluctuation indicative of the lack of properties available rather than a long-term trend.
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