UK House Prices Situation: Generally flat in most areas

UK House Prices Forecast: Likely to fall nationally through 2008

Rightmove Publishes Optimistic House Price Figures

Property website Rightmove has this week published its latest House Price Index, providing a guide to property asking prices in England and Wales.

Somewhat surprisingly, average asking prices are up 3.2% on last month, with the average annual increase for the last year now standing at 5.8%.

However, the upbeat headline figures were balanced against other, more negative trends:
• Properties taking longer to sell than last year
• Increase in average number of properties per estate agent

Rightmove also recorded the lowest new listings of property for sale for three years. The combination of this and an increase in the average stock levels per estate agent suggest that the market is stagnating, with fewer properties actually selling.

It's also worth remembering that Rightmove tracks asking prices, not selling prices.

As always, Rightmove's regional figures made interesting reading, with all but one region seeing a gain in the month to February 9th (annual figures in brackets):

• East Midlands: +5.8% (+2.2%)
• South East: +4.8% (+7.3%)
• West Midlands: +4.6% (+5.5%)
• Yorkshire & Humberside: +3.3% (+2.4%)
• East Anglia: +2.7% (+2.6%)
• Wales: +1.4% (-0.7%)
• South West: +1.3% (+3.4%)
• North West: +0.9% (+0.6%)
• Greater London: +0.9% (+11.7%)
• North: 0.0% (+2.2%)

It's interesting to note the contrast between monthly and annual figures across the regions. Some regions have experienced much stronger annual growth than others - with Wales even recording a fall in average prices over the last year.

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