Over the last few weeks there has been the usual flurry of reports about the state of the property market in England. Here’s a quick round up of the land registry’s take compared with the Nationwide and Halifax reports.
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Land registry index
Apparently London was the only area to see property values increase last year, with an uplift of 2.8%. Whilst the North East has taken the biggest hit , with a 7.1 per cent decline was recorded to around £99,500.
This has put a huge gap between the average North East home that has tumbled down through the £100,000 mark, and the average London property costing £345,298
But even property in London, where house prices rose by 2.8 per cent, did not manage to keep pace with official consumer prices inflation of 4.2 per cent, or retail prices inflation of 4.8 per cent, seen in the year to December 2011.The signs of a property world of ‘haves’ and ‘have nots’ were highlighted by the boss of upmarket London estate agent Marsh & Parsons, Peter Rollings, in a anecdote that will bring little cheer to those cutting prices and still struggling to sell in locations from the wealthy capital.
He said: ‘When the sale of a property in Fulham fell through during the festive period, it received 20 viewings and seven separate offers in the following ten days – before selling for £20,000 above its agreed asking price.’ -
The Nationwide
House prices managed to remain fairly steady in January, despite challenging economic conditions and the UK economy contracting in the final three months of 2011, according to Nationwide figures.
Its House Price Index for January found property values, when seasonally adjusted, fell by 0.2 per cent over the month, bringing the average house price down to £162,228, from December’s £163,822.Sluggish house prices and low mortgage rates mean that first-time buyers have seen the monthly cost of owning a home fall to the lowest level for nearly ten years, says Nationwide. But many are locked out by big deposit requirements and tight credit scoring.
Despite January’s fall, house prices on an annual basis are still 0.6 per cent higher than January 2011 figures, when the average value of a property stood at £161,211.
House prices also fell 0.2 per cent in December following two continuous months of growth. In November, prices were up 0.3 per cent in the month and in October, prices were up 0.4 per cent.
Nationwide’s chief economist, Robert Gardner said‘With the flow of properties coming onto the market still more of a trickle than a flood, house prices are likely to continue to remain sideways or only modestly lower in the months ahead.’
More about the Nationwide story here
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The Halifax
The average price of a home rose by £844 in January, according to the latest Halifax House Price Index, as record low interest rates continued to support demand.
Halifax reported a 0.6 per cent increase in prices, taking the average property value to £160,907 in January compared to £160,063 in December.
The Halifax’s rolling three-month measure – used to give a more stable picture of house price trends – showed prices down 0.9 per cent since October.
You can read the full article about the Halifax data here
More about the land registry figures here
so, there you have it. Depending on where abouts in the country you are prices are either going up, down or sideway.
What really matters is whether or not property is selling. Without some activity in the market all this will come to nothing (otherwise called stagnation!)
What do you think?