Annually, house price growth in April was 5.2% which marked the first annual house price increase in seven months.
In March the annual rate of house price growth was 5.1%.
The price of an average home in April now stands at £193,048, compared to £189,454 in March.
However, Nationwide noted that the number of mortgage approvals was still far below the long run average. Furthermore, when compared with the rest of Europe, the UK did not fare as favourably in the home ownership stakes.
Robert Gardner, Nationwide’s chief economist, said improving labour market conditions combined with consistently low mortgage rates were likely to ‘underpin’ housing demand in the near future.
“The strength of the economy and relatively subdued pace of activity in the housing market remains something of an anomaly. It is possible that heightened uncertainty ahead of the election is weighing on activity, though there is no compelling evidence from previous UK elections to suggest a strong impact,” he said.
Gardner added that the decline in UK home ownership in recent years had been more prominent than in other European countries.
“The UK is often characterised as a nation of home owners, though compared with our European neighbours, the proportion of the population owning their own home (either outright or with a mortgage) is not particularly high. In fact, it is actually towards the lower end of the range.
“Although some other European nations have seen declines in their home ownership rates in recent years, the movement in the UK has been more pronounced. That said, even at its all-time high of 73% in 2007, the UK homeownership rate was not particularly high by EU standards. Since then, there has been significant growth in the private rental sector.”
