-RICS
The UK house prices climbed at their slowest annual pace since March 2013 and declined for a fifth month in a row in London, adding to signs that the looming general election in May is undermining demand. According to the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors, monthly house balance dropped to +7 in January, compared with +12 in the preceding month. The index reflects the assessment of surveyors of whether house prices have increased or declined on an annual basis over the previous three months. Prices in London's capital region fell for a fifth straight month, dropping to the lowest level in six years. The latest report showed 49% of respondents reported prices in the capital falling and many remained downbeat about the prospects for the rest of the year. Britain's housing market has been cooling since mid-2014, when regulators required banks to make more thorough checks on whether borrowers would still be able to afford mortgage repayments should interest rates go up sharply.
The Bank of England is predicted to revise its outlook for consumer prices to near zero when the Governor Mark Carney presents the Inflation Report later today. Carney has previously said that inflation could turn negative this year amid plunging oil prices, and some experts expect that he may present the BoE's first ever deflation report.
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