LONDON—An index tracking house prices in England and Wales shows that prices are nearly 1 percent lower than a year ago.
The Hometrack index is the first to show a decline in house prices, although other indexes have recorded month-on-month drops.
Hometrack said the average price in March was 173,100 pounds (US$343,830; euro220,069), down 0.9 percent compared with a year earlier.
Halifax, Britain's biggest mortgage lender, reported recently that house prices fell 2.5 percent in March, marking the biggest fall in 16 years.
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