| UK
House Prices Situation: Strong
UK
House Prices Forecast: Firm but less buoyant than 2006
New
Figures Show Drop In Mortgage Approvals
New
figures released by the Bank of England reveal that
mortgage approvals, considered a good predictor of housing
market activity, dropped from a 3-year high
of 129,000 in November to a more modest 113,000 in December.
Kelvin
Davidson, of Capital Economics, believes this data may
indicate the beginning of a change to the housing market,
commenting that, "We continue to expect a marked
cooling in activity levels and house price
growth over the course of 2007."
Although
significant, a reduction in mortgage approvals in December
is not unprecedented and is likely, in part at least,
to have been seasonally-influenced. Approval data for
January and February should provide a more accurate
indication of which way the market is going.
Prices
Remain Unchanged Across 72% of UK in January
A
new survey published by Hometrack shows that while localised
house price growth continued in areas
such as London in January, 72 per cent of UK homeowners
saw the value of their homes remain unchanged in the
first month of the year.
Headline
house price inflation rates were distorted by a remarkable
0.8 per cent rise in the average price of houses in
London, leading to a 0.4 per cent rise for the UK as
a whole – equating to a 6 per cent yearly increase.
Hometrack's
survey also showed that over the last year, the average
time taken to sell a property had fallen from 8.1 weeks
to 6.7 weeks, a sign of strong demand.
|
