Spirit Posted January 13, 2008 Share Posted January 13, 2008 At long, long last the runaway UK housing market seems to have come to a juddering halt. Surveys from the Nationwide building society and the Halifax have shown prices falling in the final quarter of 2007, and both mortgage lenders are forecasting flat growth in 2008. Others are even more bearish, with Lombard Street Research predicting that house prices will have fallen around 4 per cent by the year's end.All this may provide comfort for would-be first-time buyers who may have thought, with the cost of the average UK home having soared to £195,000, that they were priced out. If prices fall, perhaps they have a chance to get on the ladder. But how long should they wait? Is this a brief respite before prices move north again, or an enduring shift in the market? But first-timers willing to resist temptation will be handsomely rewarded, according to Jonathan Davis a chartered financial planner at Armstrong Davis and a contributor to the website Housepricecrash.co.uk. He predicts that prices will tumble by around 35 per cent over the next five years, kicking off with falls of between 5 and 10 per cent during 2008. "My advice to those thinking about getting on the ladder is simple: don't touch property with a barge pole. A £250,000 home now will be worth £150,000 in as little as four years' time." http://money.independent.co.uk/property/article3331810.ece Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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