Mubasher: Annual house price growth in the UK picked up during March, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said.

Total UK house prices rose 1.4% last March on an annual basis, compared with a 1% gain in the year to February.

However, housing prices ticked down by 0.2% between February and March.

The strongest house price gains were seen in Yorkshire and the Humber, where prices grew by 3.6% in the year ended last March.

The average price of a property in the UK came in at GBP 226,798 ($288,428) in March.

London posted the lowest annual growth, with housing prices dropping by 1.9% in the 12 months ended last March.

Although the UK capital’s housing prices sharply dropped, it remained until now the most expensive place to buy property in the country, at an average of GBP 463,283 ($589,176).

By 11:58 am GMT, the GBP/USD pair fell by 0.38% to $1.2658, while the EUR/GBP pair climbed by 0.43% to GBP 0.8822.