UK house prices up 0.7 pct mm in March-Nationwide

British house prices rose 0.7 percent in March, largely reversing the previous month's fall, the Nationwide Building Society said on Tuesday, in a sign the housing market recovery is not completely dead yet.

February's decline, which ended a run of nine straight monthly rises, was revised to show prices falling by 0.8 percent instead of the 1 percent drop reported last month.

Still, the annual rate of house price inflation in March eased to 9.0 percent from 9.2 percent previously. The average house price stood at 164,519 pounds.

"The last two months are consistent with a relatively flat profile for house prices, and in line with the recent drops seen in buyer enquiries and house sales," said Martin Gahbauer, Nationwide's chief economist.

After a decade-long boom, British house prices crashed more than 20 percent during the financial crisis and ensuing recession but have been rising steadily over much of last year thanks to scarce supply and record low interest rates.

But most analysts question whether the recovery is sustainable given that credit remains tight and earnings growth is extremely subdued.

Bank of England mortgage approvals data out on Monday showed loans agreed but not yet made fell to a nine month low in February, pointing to lower house prices ahead.

Nationwide was sceptical whether the government's decision last week to exempt first-time buyers of homes worth less than 250,000 pounds from stamp duty, a tax on their house purchase, would provide any definitive boost to the market.