UK House Prices Situation: Fairly stable, growth continues in some areas

UK House Prices Forecast: Remaining strong in popular areas, no change elsewhere

Soft Landing For The Property Market? The Experts Think So

Despite years of doom-and-gloom predictions of a property market crash, it has not yet happened and does not show any obvious signs of being about to do so, according to a number of leading commentators on the UK housing market.

In a recent survey for The Guardian, none of the economists interviewed predicted anything worse than a possible gentle slowdown in housing prices over the next year. Howard Archer, an economist at Global Insight, said he believed that an ongoing shortage of properties in some areas meant that "the slowdown in house prices is likely to be only a gradual process."

Nick Bate, an economist at bankers Merrill Lynch, observed that while the market may have "weakened a touch from the strength shown in late 2006", it remains in good overall health.

HIPs To Disrupt Property Market?

A growing number of estate agents are predicting that the impending introduction by the government of Home Information Packs will have a disruptive effect on the housing market, as sellers rush to sell their homes before the planned June 1st introduction date.

Paul Smith, Chief Executive of estate agent Haart, said in a recent interview that he was expecting "an extremely buoyant spring market", as sellers sought to avoid the cost and uncertainty of having to supply a HIP.

Indeed, Haart are predicting that there could be an increase of up to 20 per cent in the number of properties entering the market over the next few months, which may go some way to help alleviate a shortage of housing supply in popular areas.