Are House Prices Now On The Rise? (bbc Article)

[hpc_uk08]

BBC is quite bearish about Nationwide and Halifax house price rising.

The link.

http://newsvote.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/8181945.stm

But if prices are going up, then they are going up. Surely there can be no doubt about it?

Not quite, says Ed Stansfield of the economic consultancy Capital Economics.

"I think it is probably a short-term phenomenon. Most of the indices are stabilising or falling at a more modest rate than before," he says.

"It is not a transformation of the underlying picture.

"The bigger picture is that the underlying economic backdrop and the lull in the mortgage market are not conducive to a recovery," Mr Stansfield adds.

But even he has toned down his earlier prediction of a further 20% price fall this year.

"That is most unlikely now. All indices have shown a moderation in the decline. I think something like a 10% fall is now more realistic."

All that is about to change, according to chartered financial planner Jonathan Davis, a long-term critic of the housing market bubble.

He says the recent pick up in prices has been "totally illusory, transient, temporary" and reckons that the number of properties for sale is about to explode.

"The impetus there was in the first half of the year is over," he says.

"The number of properties on the market is rising rapidly and buy-to-letters are in a dreadful state," he adds.