House prices
fall again as buyers start to warm up
25/02/08
House prices have fallen for the fifth month in a row with
prices dipping by 0.2% in February but there are tentative signs
of a potential recovery with a sharp rise in new buyers registering
interest with estate agents since last summer, according to
Hometrack.
Annual house price growth, now at 1.4%, is at its lowest level
since April 2006, says the survey. But the number of properties
listed with estate agents has jumped by 12.8% in February from
January according to Hometrack.
‘In the wake of the credit crunch, demand for housing
fell by 45%, but the latest survey shows a small yet important
turnaround in demand over February,’ says Richard Donnell,
director of research, Hometrack. ‘A small but growing
number of buyers appear ready to dip their toes in the market
again, but any upward pressure on prices is likely to remain
limited for the foreseeable future.’
Donnell reported prices were down across a third of the country,
but expected these fall to slow with lower mortgage rates and
greater confidence in the market.
Prices in eastern England, the North West, Yorkshire and Wales
would continue to fall in the short term due to increases in
the supply of housing, he said.
‘Buyers are registering, but I wonder how many are going
to go ahead and buy something,’ said Richard Morea of mortgage
broker London and Country.
There are varying degrees of housing slowdown across the UK,
said Morea. ‘It is the same as a rising market, London
leads,’ he added.
The Hometrack survey was evidence of a tough market, where
there is potential for further base rate cuts according to Melanie
Bien, director with Savills Private Finance.
‘If people are putting there property on the market that
would be encouraging. The sellers aren’t just waiting
to see what happens,’ Bien said.
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