The latest figures from Halifax have revealed that house prices fell in March, in contrast to yesterday's report from Nationwide.
The average cost of a home in the UK dropped to £157,326 in March, 1.9 percent less than February - and 17.5 percent down on March 2008, according to the latest Halifax house price index.
Yesterday, Nationwide revealed figures which showed that prices actually went up by 0.9 percent last month, at odds with the Halifax figures. However, Nationwide chief economist Fionnuala Earley warned at the time that the findings did not necessarily mean the housing market is recovering.
But Martin Ellis, housing economist at Halifax, suggested that "there are some very tentative signs that activity may be beginning to stabilise".
"The latest industry-wide figures show that the number of mortgages approved to finance house purchase in February - a leading indicator of completed house sales - were the highest since May 2008," he explained.
However, he did say that the housing market conditions will probably remain "tough" for the rest of the year, although affordability will improve.
"Increasing unemployment, low consumer confidence and the constraining effects of the continuing dislocation of the financial markets on the availability of mortgage finance are all likely to exert downward pressure on the market over the coming months," he concluded.
