| 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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