Prices in England and Wales increased by 0.5% in February

Property prices in England and Wales increased by 0.5% in February, taking the average price of a home to £302,435, the latest agent index shows. It was the third month in a row that prices crept up but they are still down 0.5% compared with the same month in 2018, according to the data from the Your Move index. Overall, prices remain subdued with an estimated 59,100 sales in February 2019 and the report says that given the challenges of affordability from a decade of rising prices and sluggish wage growth, a short slowdown in prices combined with increases in pay could be a positive outcome for the market in the long term.