Monday, Jun 01, 2009
Down 16%
BBC: House prices fell again in April
House prices in England and Wales fell slightly again in April, according to the Land Registry.
The average house price fell by 0.3% that month, with the annual rate of decline remaining at 16.2%, the same as it was in March.
"Although property prices are still falling, the speed of the fall has been fairly static over the last couple of months," said the Land Registry.
The number of properties sold was still low, at 42% of the level a year ago.
Posted by doomwatch @ 11:34 AM (1503 views) Add Comment
12 Comments
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1. paul said...
"Despite the predictions by many economists of a further 10% drop by the end of the year, it does now appear that the bottom has been reached, especially in London, which has seen a small rise in prices."
With all the rigour of a politician filling out her expenses claim form, I see the BBC had the foresight to ask a property consultancy about the future direction of prices.
2. c'mon correction said...
The land registry is probably the best house price report although it's still not perfect. I would question why Merthyr Tydfil prices rose by 5+% in one month and is 3+% up yoy, it has one of the highest unemployment rates in the UK and we're in the worst recession since the 1930's? Mystifying ?????!!!!!
It's good however to see my area (Vale of Glamorgan) drop 3.5% in one month, it's really playing catch up to get back to affordability. Average household income is only £33k and average price is still £151k, so still hugely over-valued property. I've seen properties on the market here for 18 months or more and only now are they being valued down. £650k property now asking £500k instead, one big drop, another was £300k now £230k in one drop - seems the estate agents are waking up to reality at last.
Does this report tally with what other HPCer's are seeing?
3. doomwatch said...
c'mon correction said...
don't forget that the LR doesn't contain sales prices acheived at auction, where sold prices are dropping 45-60% blow 07 peak.
4. titaniccaptain said...
@ c'mon correction
Merthyr Tydfil has had alot recent jobs come into the area and had the largest percentage increase in the country back in 2006(I think that was the year) of 50% in one year!!!!...... The Welsh assembly offices are now in Merthyr Tydfil as well as a MASSIVE regeneration so alot of people are moving into the area from outside and its unrecognizable from the town it was 10 years ago.....I hate the place and have lived a few miles north of it in the Brecon Beacons for most of my life and would not live there for personal reasons....BUT....there is no doubt that Merthyr has had one of the worst reputations going but as much as I hate the place it is by far the best place to live in the extensive south wales Valleys in terms of its scenery, faculties and job situation.
Just don't go out for a beer there at night......I know used to work on the doors there.
5. titaniccaptain said...
F**k this new spell check is a nightmare.....just deleted a load of text from above comment at the start so sorry it doesn't make much sense.....I think you get the idea though
6. denzil said...
doomwatch said:
"don't forget that the LR doesn't contain sales prices acheived at auction"
Yes it does! I went to an auction just before Christmas and remembered the achieved prices, each one is on LR, and correct.
I notice that London is showing +1.4% HPI for the month.
7. Europeanbear said...
I think the LR does not contain repossessions. A house does not have to be repossessed to go to auction. But a combination of the spring bounce and no repossessions in the figures means the index just about gets close to flatlining. The patient is dead - only 42% turnover from one year ago when prices were dropping. Expect more soon.
8. george monsoon said...
Some say house prices are static, others that they are falling. London - we are getting mixed messages.. are they falling or climbing?
The only facts I can relate to are that I am on above average income and between myself and the missus, houses are still overpriced and out of reach. How many Millions of other potential FTB's are currently in my position?
I am sure the wheels of greed will conjure up a way of extracting more money from the stupid, to maintain these silly over-inflated prices out of my reach.
9. c'mon correction said...
You're not alone George. There must tens of thousands of us, that can't afford an average house to raise a family. Why the UK public thinks that ever higher house prices is a good thing is beyond me; it just entraps us as a nation into larger and larger debt.
What I'm amazed at, is that the 'credit crunch' hasn't changed people's attitude at all - not the public, not the media or the government. I think for maybe 2-3 months last year the media was questioning the sustainability of our economy; but since then it's head in the sand again - "green shoots of recovery" and "hopefully house prices will start rising again".
This is why we have the most expensive property in the world, we work longer for less lifestyle, have increasing poverty and are fast falling down the quality of life world league tables. We're not learning, and i fear whenever the time of reckoning comes, it's going to hit us for six.
10. guiriduro said...
Ah yes, c'mon - you're right it hasn't fundamentally changed perceptions yet (being the operative word.) After nearly 20 years of HPI the psychology is deeply entrenched. But everyone seems to be forgetting in the current short term exuberance, the main problem of the credit crisis hasn't gone away, namely that HPI based on widely available cheap credit isn't sustainable and the piper has to be paid. In this instance, the BoE have knocked down interest rates to near Japan levels - making existing debt cheaper in the near term, although it clearly isn't widely available. Also, the government has thrown the taxpayer in the way of a banking sector collapse, which seems to have worked, in the sense that insolvent banks aren't collapsing as they should. But of course shifting the problem isn't solving it - we are due a sovereign debt crisis, collapse of sterling, hyperinflation/stagflation and frankly poverty in act II of this tragedy, even as the protagonists have stumbled their fearful way out of the frying pan in act I in what appears to be luck.
11. Beartil2010 said...
guiriduro - excellent summation, perhaps the best I've seen.
I like the filmic image - I imagine Gordon Brown as the faux hero, surviving the tragedy against all the odds, stumbling away from the wreckage of the collapse. Just starting to think he's safe, he's the man, he's going to survive - but little does he know the scriptwriter is in charge. Cue the massive earthquakes and tornados that shred him limb from limb.
12. Mr. Mw said...
@ 6. denzil
I think issue is that although auction selling prices are held by LR, they exclude them from their statistics.