| UK
House Prices Situation: Slight downwards movement in most
areas
UK
House Prices Forecast: Continued falls throughout 2008
Nationwide
Confirms Third Month of Falls
Nationwide
Building Society has this week published its latest House
Price Index, covering the month of January.
Its
figures reveal that average UK property prices fell by
0.1% in January - the third consecutive month in which
prices have fallen. January's fall is not as great as
December's 0.4% fall but brings the rolling average increase
for the last year down from 4.8% to 4.2%.
Nationwide
Senior Economist Martin Gahbauer commented that "The
weakening trend in house prices during
the last three months is consistent with the loosening
in housing market conditions that has become increasingly
evident in the data … This undoubtedly signals a
continued cooling in annual house price inflation during
the months ahead."
Land
Registry Index Confirms Nationwide Stats
The
Land Registry has also published its latest House Price
Index this week - although this one covers December, not
January. This lag is due to the Land Registry's index
being based on completed sales, not just approved mortgages.
The
Land Registry found that the average house price
had fallen by 0.4% in December - coincidentally exactly
the same size fall as Nationwide observed in December.
The
Land Registry index, which includes cash purchases as
well as mortgaged ones, found that the average house
price has risen by 6.7% over the last year -
slightly higher than Nationwide's figure. This could perhaps
be explained by the inclusion of house purchases at the
very top (£m's) of the market - which are not normally
mortgaged and have risen strongly this year.
Mortgage
Approvals Continue to Fall
The
British Bankers' Association (BBA) has announced that
mortgage approvals fell by 38% in December, as rising
credit costs take their toll. The December figure of 42,088
was an all-time low, the BBA said.
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