UK house prices in surprise increase; NatWest braces for slowing economy – business live

Live, rolling coverage of business, economics and financial markets as average house price rose 0.4% in April and NatWest sets aside £140mBritish homebuyers defied a bleak economic mood and the Iran war to push house prices up by 0.4% in April, surprising economists who had on average expected a decline.Annual house price growth picked up to 3.0% in April, from 2.2% in March, according to data published on Friday by Nationwide, the UK’s largest building society. That put the average price at £27...