Friday, Feb 26, 2010
Here we go again!
BBC: UK house prices 'lose momentum', says Nationwide
UK house prices fell for the first time in 10 months in February as icy weather put off house hunters, the Nationwide building society has said.
Average property values dropped by 1% compared with January, with the average home worth £161,320. But the annual rate of increase accelerated to 9.2% because prices dropped faster a year ago. Mortgage lending also slowed at the start of the year owing to the hangover from the stamp duty holiday.The three-month on three-month comparison is generally regarded as a smoother indication of house price trends. This showed a 1.6% increase in the three months to February, having slowed from 2% in January and from the peak of 3.7% in September. Prices surprised many commentators by remaining relatively buoyant throughout the second half of 2009.
10 Comments
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1. little professor said...
Finally!
I'd expect to see a bit of up and down for the next few months, but full crash speed should resume by the summer. I'd originally expected prices to start falling again by the end of last year, but I'd underestimated the willingness of the government and BoE to prop up asset prices even at the cost of rampant inflation. They are out of ammo now - there's nothing more they can do.
2. paul said...
When prices are rising the BBC drops of the 'says Nationwide' or 'says Halifax', and the statement simply becomes fact. In this case, the BBC have taken the statement that snow affected viewings at face value even though they've been telling us that restricted supply has been keeping house prices high.
I love the BBC's vain attempt to temper the bad news with the following:
Properties in sought-after locations are in short supply
3. Fun 4 Now said...
'In a separate survey, estate agent Knight Frank said strong demand for second homes could cause house prices to more than double in sought-after areas.'
errr...ok
4. Carrera said...
I have noticed that a lot of the banks have tightened lending criteria again ... satander were willing to lend up to 5x joint incomes until a few weeks ago; likewise other banks have also adjusted their criteria; I can now borrow 15k less than I could in December ... I think prices will now have no option other than to adjust; especially if rates rise.
5. timmy t said...
Paul - get real... the reason the houses in that picture are still high is because it's not snowing there...
6. waitingtobuy said...
Paul--Castle Combe?
7. Jeremiah said...
Haven't seen that 3-month on 3-month comparison for a while. Do they only whip it out when prices start to soften so they can still show positive indices? Hopefully by spring we'll be calling it the 'straw-clutching oscillator' or some such thing.
8. str 2007 said...
Castle Comb, that'll be just down the road from the race track then.
Bet they don't do viewings there on Sundays.
9. mark wadsworth said...
As LP says, surely they have to run out of ammo sooner or later.
10. Adskirockski said...
Paul,
That's just not true, search the words house price nationwide on bbc news. There are no doubt times where BBC bias creeps in, but by making up facts you're damaging your case.
http://www.google.co.uk/search?hl=en&lr=&q=house+price+nationwide+site:news.bbc.co.uk&start=10&sa=N