House prices edged down by 0.2 per cent in May on a monthly basis, says Halifax in its latest property price index.

It also notes annual growth of 2.6 per cent, meaning that average house price in the UK now stands at £237,808.

April’s fall in prices means that the lender has recorded a drop in prices for three months in a row.

Halifax managing director Russell Galley notes that a paucity of data because of lockdown limiing transactions means that not only is working out house price data challenging, but that it increases apparent price volatility.

He adds that Halifax has confidence in the future of the housing market over the long term but, short term, performance depends on “how quickly the economy is able to recover… and the available government policy support for jobs and households.”

Sourced Capital managing director Stephen Moss agrees with Galley’s comments regarding the difficulty in producing house price data. He says: “We’re now entering a period of ‘index instability’ in the sense that cold, hard data on any pandemic impact isn’t really available, so there will be a few different tunes being played around the health of the market in the months to come.

“A combination of scant data used to analyse house price numbers and a plethora of different methodologies across the various publications means that we will see confusion reign for a while as things settle.”

Glenhawk chief executive Guy Harrington says: “The housing market was inevitably going to join the conga line of economic casualties, with consumer confidence completely deteriorating, a labour market in freefall and the logistical challenges presented by social distancing.

“However, we must note that this crisis isn’t liquidity driven and what hasn’t changed overnight is the huge demand supply imbalance of nearly all housing tenures across the UK. With favorable borrowing costs and further government stimulus including a potentially earlier than expected revision of stamp duty, a swift recovery, akin to the Boris Bounce the market experienced in the early part of the year, is not out of the question.”

Meanwhile, Garrington Property Finders chief executive Jonathan Hopper stresses greater regional divergence from now on: “England’s estate agents only reopened for business in mid-May, and agents remain closed elsewhere in the UK, so this May price data should be taken with a shovelful of salt.

“Nevertheless, it provides an early hint of the sharp price correction to come. At this stage both buyers and sellers are feeling their way on price, and caution will be the watchword for both.

“On the front line, we’ve seen the emergence of a steady stream of pragmatic buyers who made life-changing decisions during lockdown and are now keen to capitalise on the current volatile market.

“Buyers won’t have it all their own way of course. With national averages currently meaningless, fast-growing regional disparities mean that ultra-local information is key.”