Realistbear Posted March 6, 2008 Share Posted March 6, 2008 (edited) http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/busi...?Submitted=true Times OnlineMarch 6, 2008 Halifax says house prices to stabilise after February drop Dearbail Jordan UK house prices declined by 0.3 per cent last month according to Halifax, above the 0.2 per cent fall predicted by analysts and adding to evidence that the UK housing market is losing momentum. The fall brings the annual rate of house price growth down to 4.2 per cent. However, the Halifax said there are still "sound economics" supporting the British housing market. Prices in the three months to February rose by 0.2 per cent compared to the previous quarter. Halifax said that although house prices will remain flat over the rest of the year at around an average £196,649, underlying signs such as employment were strong, with the number of people in employment at a record 29.40 million after a 296,000 rise last year. The bank also said that the two cuts in interest rates since December 2007 had helped stabilise house prices. Howard Archer, chief UK & European economist at Global Insight, said: "Overall, the data suggest that house prices are continuing to cool markedly, but they are not plunging through the floor. "Nevertheless, the housing market clearly remains under substantial pressure from elevated affordability constraints and tighter lending practices." More restrictive lending criteria has impacted on the buy-to-let market, according to the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (RICS). It said the number of landlords instructing estate agents to rent out their properties had fallen by 1 per cent during the final quarter of 2007 - the first decline in its ten year history - compared to an 11 per cent increase rise in the previous three months. RICS said: "The credit crunch has restricted the number of buy-to-let mortgages approved as well as the number of mortgages available to investors." A drop of 0.3% eh. So tiny the margin of error of at least +/- 2% would suggest it is too small to record. We alll know the real story of course and there is no way sellers are discounting 0.3% to get properties moving in wehat EAs are now admitting is a market going into deepfreeze with no credit and the evaporation of silly loans. Halifax think the market is going to stabilise? David Lereah thought that too. David was proven to be wrong, Dead wrong. The housing market is cyclical not linear. Edited March 6, 2008 by Realistbear Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drrayjo Posted March 6, 2008 Share Posted March 6, 2008 Keep up RB, on other thread already! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Realistbear Posted March 6, 2008 Author Share Posted March 6, 2008 Keep up RB, on other thread already! Must be on page 2--cannah nay see it. ITMT looks like thieves are falling out: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/7280737.stm ...../ However, the Halifax survey paints a rather different picture of developments in the past six months from that portrayed by one of its main rivals, the Nationwide building society. In February, the Nationwide's survey registered its fourth monthly price fall in a row. It also said the pace of decline was speeding up, because prices in the three months to February had been 1% lower than in the previous three. However, the Halifax reckons that the slowdown has been much less dramatic. Nationwide to Halifax: "cut the crap the spin will kill us all--we need the sheeple to face reality and start cutting prices to keep our comissions rolling in. FFS, mortgages are down 39% and you are still telling the sheeple its going to flatline? Get real turkeys." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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