Monday, 9 February 2009
House prices have much further to fall and that is no bad thing
Last week saw some rare, cheerful news about the housing market juxtaposed with some truly dreadful news about industry.
The Halifax reported that house prices rose by 1.9pc in January, while the
Office for National Statistics reported that industrial output plunged by
1.7pc in December. Is there any hope that house prices will soon stabilise?
The short answer is no. As regular readers will know, I have been a bear of
the housing market for some time but over the last year my worst fears have
been realised – and even exceeded. House prices have fallen by about 18pc.
The latest Halifax figure is best regarded as a blip – a statistical quirk.
Even during the dark days of 1990-1993, when prices were falling quite
sharply, there were several months when they were reported as having risen.
Whenever I write about the housing market I get a barrage of emails informing
me that there is no such thing as "the" housing market but rather
an overwhelming complexity of micro markets.
In one sense, of course, this is right. And there are some times when
different parts of the market behave differently. Not now, though. Yes,
there are some pockets where things are particularly dire – auctions of
repossessed city centre newly built flats, for example, can show falls of
50pc-60pc. Equally, to date, prices in Scotland have not fallen by much.
But, Scotland aside, you would be hard pressed to find a region which stands
out from the general UK trend.
Read more: The Daily Telegraph
Thursday, 5 February 2009
Treasury orders probe into banks
The average price of UK homes rose by 1.9% in January from December's figure according to the Halifax.
However it warned that one month's figures did not indicate an end to the downward trend in prices, which it says have dropped 17.2% in the past year.
The average house price has now reached Ł163,966, according to the Halifax.
Last week, a survey by Nationwide suggested house prices fell by 1.3% in January, and they said job worries were putting off people buying homes.
Martin Ellis, chief economist at the Halifax, said his bank's latest survey did not mean the property market had reached a turning point, after last year's dramatic slump in mortgage lending, completed sales and prices.
Read more: BBC Business
Thursday, 1 February 2009
Mortgage approvals rise slightly
The number of new mortgages approved for home buyers picked up slightly in December, says the Bank of England.
There were 31,000 mortgage approvals, up from 27,000 in November, but still the second lowest figure on record.
At the same time, HM Revenue & Customs said that property sales were picking up.
But lending and industry experts have warned that banks are still short of money and mortgage lending is still likely to decline.
Read more: BBC Business
