UK House Prices Situation: Mixed across regions, overall negative trend

UK House Prices Forecast: Falling house prices in 2008

Rightmove Publishes January House Price Figures

Property website Rightmove published the January edition of its house price index this week.

It contained the expected news - property prices down by an average of 0.8% in January, bringing the average for the last year down from 4.8% in December to 3.4% this month.

As ever, the regional story is more interesting than the national average - here's a break down of average monthly changes in prices by region (remember that there may be considerable variations within each region, as well):

• East Midlands: -6.1%
• Wales: -3.8%
• West Midlands: -3.4%
• East Anglia: -2.6%
• Yorkshire & Humberside: -1.9%
• South East: -1.6%
• South West: -0.7%
• North West: +0.3%
• North: +2.1%
• Greater London: +3.6%

Rightmove believes that the rush to place smaller properties on the market before the HIPs deadline in mid-December is partly to blame for the widespread cuts in prices. They estimate that the 'HIPs effect' will have worked its way out of prices by next month, presenting a truer picture going forwards.

Commenting on the figures, Miles Shipside, Commercial Director of Rightmove said that "Some homebuyers are now able to find properties that have fallen into their affordability zone, and are bagging what they see as bargains against previous prices."

Shipside also believes that activity might pick up a little, observing that "enough sellers seem to have dropped their prices to encourage potential buyers to look in larger numbers, suggesting we might see a more active market at this lower level."

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