"It is hard to be optimistic about the house-price outlook"
- Ed Stansfield, a property economist at Capital Economics Ltd.
U.K. house prices edged lower in February, said the Lloyds Banking Group Plc Halifax mortgage-lending unit on Tuesday. Prices fell 0.5 per cent to an average of 160,118 pounds.
"It is hard to be optimistic about the house-price outlook," said Ed Stansfield, a property economist at Capital Economics Ltd. in London.
"With mortgage interest rates edging up again and unemployment still rising, the downward trend in prices is likely to become entrenched this year."
"The three month decline in prices is a fair reflection of where the property market is at. Prices are by no means collapsing but are still under pressure," said Maria Kemp, of estate agent Kemp and Co.
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