UK House Prices Situation: Overall stagnation

UK House Prices Forecast: Real-term falls in 2008

Halifax Figures Show Rebound In December - But Trend Remains Down

The latest house price index figures from Halifax show that on average, house prices rose by 1.3% in December 2007.

This follows three successive months of falls, meaning that the overall average for the final quarter of 2007 was 0.8% lower than that for the third quarter. Prices finished the year 5.2% higher than in December 2006, according to Halifax.

Halifax predicts that house prices are likely to be flat in 2008 - meaning real term falls after inflation is taken into account - and said that such a mixed pattern of rises and falls is "a typical characteristic of a subdued market".

Land Registry Pitches In With Positive November Figures

The Land Registry's house price index is widely accepted as one of the most authoritative guides to house price trends, as it uses the actual sale prices for all property sold in England and Wales - not just properties on which mortgages are secured.

Its only real downside is that it tends to lag behind the major lenders' indices by one month, meaning that November's edition has just been published.

The Land Registry found that house prices increased by an average of 0.6% in November, resulting in an annual increase of 8.1%.

Regional figures for November varied from a fall of 0.9% in the North East to an average increase of 1.1% in London, with most regions of England and Wales seeing increases between 0% and 0.5%.

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