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| ::House prices 'see continued fall' - 10th February 2009 |
| House prices continued to fall in January despite growing buyer interest, according to the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (Rics). Rics said the proportion of its members reporting a fall rather than a rise in prices went up from 73.9% in December to 76.3% last month. The average number of sales per estate agency fell slightly to 9.9 compared with 10 the previous month. However, enquiries from new buyers rose for the third month in a row. Although surveyors expect the fall in house prices to continue in the near term, Rics noted a more positive outlook when it came to future sales. It said that 10% more estate agents expected sales to pick up in the coming months, than those who said they would drop. Rate help The credit freeze, which has made mortgages more difficult to obtain for those without hefty deposits, has been a major factor in the housing slowdown. Meanwhile falling prices have prompted many would-be buyers to hold off in the hope the cost of homes will continue to fall. But the sharp drop in the Bank of England base rate - now standing at a historic low of 1% - may give the market a boost, Rics said. "The latest cut in interest rates may improve confidence for those on the margins, encouraging buyers looking for more attractive finance deals," said Rics spokesperson Jeremy Leaf. Government initiatives aimed at encouraging lenders to offer more home loans may also have a positive impact, he said. Job worries Some observers have suggested that the latest pieces of housing data suggest that the property market, while not improving markedly, is at least not seeing the sharp falls of last year. However, most expect house prices will continue to fall for some time. The average price of UK homes rose by 1.9% in January from December's figure, according to the Halifax, which bases its data on mortgage approvals. However, it warned that one month's figures did not indicate an end to the downward trend in prices, and its survey also showed that prices had dropped by 17.2% in the past year. Earlier this month, a survey by Nationwide suggested house prices fell by 1.3% in January, with the lender saying job worries were putting people off buying homes. House prices in England and Wales fell by 13.5% in 2008 according to the Land Registry - widely seen as the most authoritative guide to the market. |
| Source of this article : |
| From bbc/news.co.uk - 10th February 2009 |
| Date of this item added : |
| 2009-02-13 |